DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR ?

I suppose that in the murky depths of every large publicly-funded organisation, there lies a `department` whose job it is to dream up ways of squandering the public funds which sustain them.   So in the European Union monolith we find there is an outfit known as the Protocol Service of the European Parliament and not to disappoint, they have come up with the monstrosity, shown above, which is the official sash of the European Parliament.

Now each of the 751 members of the EU Parliament is being urged to wear this extraordinary accessory as. according to on EU official, "MEPs pride themselves on not simply representing their countries but also being representatives of an overriding European interest as defined by the EU Treaty."  Oh dear.   It gets worse.  "Why shouldn`t our MEPs dress up?" he went on.  "This is the world`s first transnational parliament and it`s special."   

Of course, `European citizens` can also buy the golden tasselled sash emblazoned with the European Union flag for a mere £107 and it seems to me to be yet another example of the remoteness and self-centred delusions of grandeur that is now part of the EU way of life.   When the Parliament convened in Strasbourg last week it was opened with a military ceremony conducted by the Franco-German Eurocorps battle group raising the European flag accompanied by the EU official anthem, which, ironically, is Ode to Joy.

Is this really what we signed up for when we joined the Common Market all those years ago?