Letter to the Editor: REACH Directive

SIR - Yet again the EU Court of Auditors has been unable to sign off the EU's £70 billion accounts. Conservatives want to see a zero tolerance approach to malpractice and protection for whistleblowers who have the courage to highlight wrongdoing.

The British government, which holds the presidency of the EU, should have made progress on this issue. Eighty per cent of EU money is spent by the member states. Individual countries need to accept their responsibility to tighten controls.

But Gordon Brown is saying one thing and doing another. He wants other countries to do their bit but he's not prepared to take the lead himself. Perhaps that's not surprising given that in April, Labour MEPs, along with their Liberal Democrat colleagues, voted to approve the previous year's EU accounts despite the Court of Auditors' concerns.

Yours faithfully,

Nirj Deva DL MEP
Member of the European Parliament for Surrey