Superfluous, the Minister said…and the word `superfluous' stuck to my brain like a leach.

Barely 2 days passed that on 2/10/1999, the same minister wrote again on the same subject offering more elucidation, TMI 2/10/1999 `How the European Union Works'.

Acting in accordance to his ministerial proclamation, I disregarded the minister's own letter of 2/10/1999 on the basis that this further elucidation was superfluous.

It was interesting to note that in his second letter (2/10/99) the minister again concluded: `Anymore comments would be superfluous'. These declarations say a lot about the quality of debate in this land.

I guess that by virtue of these two ministerial proclamations this, my humble contribution to the EU Agricultural debate, becomes doubly superfluous; as indeed was the quality of debate raging between the Minister and his Labour counterpart on the aforementioned subject.

Sifting through the political attacks and argumenta ad hominem, their debate made the average reader no more knowledgeable on EU affairs.

In the absence of decent information on EU accession and on the balance of probabilities, I will end up voting for the usual political party in the next general elections but shall abstain in the EU referendum.