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Monte Pego February 7 As you invited Mr.Burrage to reply to my last letter in the CBNews perhaps you will accord me the same opportunity.

I would like to thank Mr Burrage for answering my questions to the best of his ability.

He elects to first deal with the Post Script to my letter and then appears to chastise me for not identifying his ‘former’ Brexit Expats Association by not constantly keeping up to date with the media.

His explanation of how and why this Association was formed is very profound and confirms that at one stage had 30,000 members (followers).

However, he also confirms that as soon as a ‘small contribution to the cost of a packet of cigarettes per year’, 93% of these followers deserted. Mr Burrage should be ‘long enough in the tooth’ (his words) and aware of the fact that when ordinary people see something they perceive to be valueless they tend to vote with their feet.

Finally, after another long diatribe, Mr. Burrage purports to know what my views are, i.e. whether the UK should leave or remain in the EU. He presumably bases this assumption on the fact that I question the profligacy of this organisation and eventually gets around to posting some answers.

Whilst I have to agree that (at the present) the EU is not a Federal government, I can recall the fact that they compelled the Irish to hold a second referendum when they originally revoked the Lisbon Treaty. They have also forced the Greeks into a massive austerity programme when the Euro was in crisis. In addition, there is talk of a European Defence Force despite the existence of NATO.

Mr.Burrage then seems to combine my questions 2 & 3 in one answer by mentioning that the original use of Strasbourg was brought about by frugality. He then goes on to inform me that the cost of the Parliament sitting there for 1 week per month is put at €114 million. Some frugality!!! He also states that my question is politically motivated. Surely, any person who lives in the EU has the right to question the profligacy of the organisation. Furthermore, he also informs me, without my asking, that the annual contribution of the UK to EU was almost £9 billion sterling in the year 2017. He then reveals his own bias to Remain by inferring that anyone who believed that what was published on the so called ‘Battle Bus’ of the Leave campaign must have been idiots. The usual refrain of the Remainers!!

Finally, to my last question, as to who approves the pay and expenses of MEPs, he informs me that it is the Parliament, and that their annual salary is €101,808 plus non-receipted expenses which I believe amounts to a further €4,000/month. I am pleased to hear that even Mr. Burrage finds this scandalous and is upheld by the CJEU.

I can now inform Mr. Burrage that as a fiscal resident of Spain but still having the vote in the UK, that I voted REMAIN in the referendum!! However, after the shenanigans of the Remainers to try to overturn the democratic result of that referendum, should there be a second ‘Peoples Vote’ referendum, I would not hesitate to vote LEAVE. Regards, Roy H Penfold