So you think you know everything to know about the EU.

Graham Charles Lear
3 min readFeb 27, 2019

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THE LAST TERRITORY TO JOIN THE EU?

Do you know where it is and who it is? Bet you don't. Could it be Romania? (2007) Bulgaria? (2007) Croatia? (2013)

You would be wrong if you thought it was one of those three countrys. I don't blame you for thinking it was those three after all they all came into the EU with great fanfare. But it's not. The last addition to the EU — Mayotte

Mayotte I hear you ask where the hells Mayotte where in Europe is Mayotte. Well, it's not in Europe its an island just off the coast of Madagascar and what this little island did in 2014 was asked France if it could become part of France solely so it could be part of the EU. France duly obliged. Her is a little information about this island which is now part of France.

On 01 Jan 2014, the EU accepted Mayotte as part of the EU

Mayotte is an impoverished island off Africa, with a 97% Islamic population

Population: 256,500 of which more than half are under 18 years old

The population has grown at an incredible 3.8% per year since 2012, mostly illegal migrants

Unemployment rate: 35% and increasing

In Mayotte, nearly one inhabitant in two is of foreign nationality

It is still ruled under Islamic law.

Mayotte officially became part of France in 2014 so that they could join the EU. It is now officially an EU region and is quoted in EU documents as such — as recently as yesterday.

It receives part of the €13.3 billion of taxpayers’ money allocated to the EU’s nine “Outermost Regions” under the EU budget. Six of the nine Outermost Regions are French.

Even the EU Commission has a damning assessment of Mayotte :-

“The region faces many challenges: a GDP reaching less than one third of the EU average; a high unemployment rate affecting in particular young people, a very young and mostly non-qualified population; a strong pressure of Illegal immigration. In addition, water resources are limitedand basic infrastructures are still insufficient.”

Key questions for Remainer MPs

  1. Exactly when were you given a ‘meaningful vote’ on whether to accept Mayotte into the EU?
  2. Exactly when did you vote to approve €13.3 billion of expenditure on the EU’s ‘outermost regions’ most of which are French?
  3. Exactly how do you feel about Islamic law prevailing over EU law in Mayotte?

Today, more motions and amendments will be debated and voted upon in Parliament, in further attempts to thwart Brexit.

Once again, we really do have to ask how many MPs have the first idea what the EU is? We will hazard a guess that 99% of them have never heard of Mayotte. Sadly, Mayotte is merely a symbol of the ignorance of those who claim to know what is best for the people of Britain and yet who pronounce grandiosely on the subject of the EU in Parliament.

How can these MPs seriously talk about ‘meaningful votes’ on Brexit when they are never given meaningful votes on vast swathes of EU policy? Do they really believe in having no voice and having to accept what Brussels bureaucrats decide?

Given the fact that Brussels takes more and more power every year, we have to question whether MPs shouldn’t be downgraded to councilors.

It could all be different

If MPs accepted the verdict of the British people, and if they simply acquiesced to the exit of the UK from the EU on 29 March on World Trade terms, they could start debating and deciding on major issues of benefit to our country.

If we were out from under the yoke of foreign government based in Brussels these MPs would almost get back to having true political power, as they did in previous generations. Or maybe they don’t feel up to that?

[Sources: EU Council Directive 2013/61/EU — Mayotte | INSEE (French National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies) : Résultats statistiques de Mayotte | INSEE: population statistics | EU Commission European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations ]

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Graham Charles Lear
Graham Charles Lear

Written by Graham Charles Lear

What is life without a little controversy in it? Quite boring and sterile would be my answer.

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