EU Referendum


EU regulation: a gesture of solidarity?


27/05/2013



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So quick is the Daily Mail to make the obvious point about our idle Prime Minister sunning himself at the taxpayers' expense in the exclusive bit of Ibiza, that it has completely missed the real points of his visit to sunny Spain.

Sitting on the table (bottom right of the picture) is a cruet set which includes the mandatory aceitera containing olive oil. And this is the very thing which the European Commission sought to ban recently, until forced to climb down as a result of the media furore.

Clearly, the prime minister is now visiting Spain as a gesture of solidarity with the Commission, to demonstrate his approval of the its latest move in supporting the industrial production of low-grade olive oil.

For all the sanctimonious wiffle talked by the media, the situation illustrated is the death of high quality olive oil. The best needs to be kept cool, in tinted bottles away from bright light.

To keep olive oil in clear glass, in direct sunshine during the heat of the day, is to give it a shelf-life of hours, before it is uneatable – unless, of course, it is industrially produced and stuffed full of anti-oxidants to the limit of what is legally permissible.

Never mind that the spokesman for the Spanish Association of Bars, Cafes and Restaurants supported the requirement for non-refillable bottles, to "guarantee the quality of extra virgin olive oil on the table." Mr Cameron has turned his back on quality and made his defiant gesture in support of the mass-production of chemically-dosed uniformity. 

It is also good to see Mr Cameron stand up for smoking in public places – viz the lady smoker in the background. Clearly, we have a man of principle in our Prime Minister and we should be really grateful that he has travelled so far, and experienced such great personal hardship to make his points. 

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