EU directive hampers councils regulating sex shops

Westminster City Council is challenging the interpretation of an EU directive 2006/123/EC which is making it harder to act against illegal sex shops.

The court believes the EU requirement is that the licence fee paid to the council can not include the cost of enforcement. The council wants to use money charged from legal sex shops to tackle illegal ones. 15 other councils backed Westminster.

Also in the news I see that a Lib Dem MP, John Pugh, is among those objecting to an EU rule on vitamin and mineral supplements that would reduce consumer choice and drive health food shops out of business.

It is small cases like this that will have the cumulatively result of our nation ceasing to be a member of the European Union. Lots of people might regard constitutional arguments about sovereignty as dull and irrelevant - until they find they are being blocked from doing something due to the EU.

The numbers annoyed by EU interference in the rules on sex shops or vitamin supplements will be small - those most annoyed will be ones affected by it. But if every day we see more examples of this meddling that is how a majority for withdrawal from the EU will become solid.