At the
European Parliament in Strasbourg this week, one of the most important issues
on the agenda was a resolution to reject a Commission proposal for an
implementing regulation on air operations.
This
proposal has attracted great hostility from the British Airline Pilots
Association (BALPA) and from individual pilots who have lobbied strongly to
reject the proposal.
Among
their many concerns are that under this proposal:
• Pilots
will be legally allowed to land an aircraft having been awake for 22 hours.
• Pilots
will be operating longer haul flights (such as to west coast USA) with only 2
crew rather than the current 3
• Pilots
could be forced to work up to 7 early starts in a row. Something that is proven
to cause dangerous cumulative fatigue.
Air
safety is something that concerns every one of us, whether we travel regularly
on business, or occasionally when going on holiday.
British
carriers have a first class record in this area, and our pilots are deeply
concerned about the implications of this EU 'one-size fits all' proposal.
I voted
to reject the Commission proposal.
I have to
report that UKIP did not, they voted in favour of this EU initiative. The Earl
of Dartmouth, Stuart Agnew, Gerard Batten, John Bufton, Roger Helmer, and Paul
Nuttall all voted against the resolution to reject the European Commission
proposal. Three UKIP MEPs, Nigel Farage, Derek Clark, and Godfrey Bloom simply
failed to turn up for work that day.
We are
told that UKIP's raison d'être in the European Parliament is to oppose the
tidal wave of EU legislation that emanates from Brussels. It would appear that,
like the Conservatives, they say one thing at home when they are fundraising,
but do something else when they are in Brussels and Strasbourg drawing down
their substantial salaries and inflated daily expenses.
Is it
incompetence, or is it the greatest con-trick in British politics?
