Sweet Eurosceptic Topping

Boris Johnson aka 'I'm a lovable buffoon really' has just woken up to perils of CAP in his piece in today's Telegraph. One wonders what took him so long? Anyway, he bemoans, in rather convoluted language, the negative impact the EU is having on the American owned company Tate & Lyle:

This historic company produces about 40 per cent of the cane sugar in the entire EU, and most of it comes from the London plant. 

Now this superb business faces a threat from Brussels, and the imposition of an unnecessary and badly thought-out regulation.

The plant has the capacity to produce 1.1 million tonnes of refined sugar a year; and yet the company is prevented, by the EU commission, from importing the raw materials in the quantities it needs. Their current output is now down to 60 per cent of capacity — and the result is that jobs are being lost in a part of London that already faces the highest levels of unemployment in the city and indeed in the whole of the country.

For decades they have been artificially shielded, by high tariff walls around the EU, which mean that sugar prices in Europe are more than double the world market price.

Boris is understandably not happy, even though Richard North highlighted the potential effects in 2004 and 2005. So after a lengthy criticism, by Boris, of the situation and of the EU, what does he propose to do? Well... wait for it...cue drum roll:

And we are lobbying Brussels to drop its crazy prohibition, and allow Tate and Lyle to get cane sugar from wherever in the world it can find the stuff.

Lobby Brussels? Not advocating withdrawal - nope - instead a pathetically weak proposal of lobbying Brussels. There lies another Tory Europlastic. Boris naturally has form on this. Take this interview with Paxman on the Lisbon treaty in 2009. When asked what should happen if it was ratified, Boris hides behind:

That's a hypothetical question...and...I'm not an expert on Euro Treaty law.

An answer that is basically no different from Cameron's "we won't let matters rest there". As always beneath the sweet Tory Eurosceptic topping lies stale Europhile substance.

With more than one eye on Cameron's position Boris knows the sugary appeal of Eurosceptisim will win over the sweet-toothed Tory faithful. But should he win the leadership or even become PM we'll go through the whole "veto" charade again.

The man is our enemy not our friend.