Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2013-03-14-Speech-4-197-000"
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"en.20130314.29.4-197-000"2
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"Mr President, it is extraordinary the way the number of people in this Chamber keeps on growing. A cynic might almost think that that was the primary purpose of EU elections.
I am reminded rather of the Long Parliament in the UK, which in the name of democracy fought a great civil war, but never got around to dissolving itself and holding fresh elections for mandates for new Members.
So every time a new country goes in, the upper limit of MEPs keeps rising. Although we occasionally say that we should put a cap on it, it somehow never gets around to happening.
Sometimes I am told that I have nothing positive to contribute, that I am only ever cynical when I make these speeches. Let me end with a very practical and positive contribution.
I look forward to a referendum in the UK within the next five years that will result in the elimination of my job. We will then be able to have perhaps 60 or 70 fewer Members of the European Parliament. That would be our last, parting gift to European democracy."@en1
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The resource appears as object in 2 triples