Times article, May 4th

The following appeared in the Times supplement on May 4th, written by Desmond Morris.

"The current buzzword among conservationists is bio diversity. But what about cultural diversity? Who is protecting local customs? My travels have taken me to 23 different countries this year, and it is the ones with unique local traditions that have impressed me most. In so many places these traditions have been diluted by the influx of cheap international imports or by trendy foreign fashions.

But in a few places the locals have resisted stubbornly the move towards global cultural uniformity. And they are much better for it. This does not mean that these pockets of resistance must ignore technological advances. They can enjoy laptops and feezers and sound systems like the rest of the world, but these innovations need not sweep away the centuries of local cuisine, art, music, costume or architecture. It is possible to have the best of both worlds, but this is something that the idiot politicians who squander our money in Brussels simply don't understand.

There are great economic benefits to be gained from a 'United States of Europe', but only if each 'state' respects the customs of others. The idea that an honest English grocer is being treated as a criminal because Brussels will not allow him to mark up his produce in pounds, rather than in some vile metric units, has been enough to turn me against the European Union.

I am now forced to reject it totally, seeing it as a great idea that has been reduced to homogenising folly by a bunch of ignorant, freeloading Eurocrats"