Money Well Spent?

Another £135 Million of your money is to be spent on a new building in Brussels.

To its Belgian architect it is a “dancing pregnant goddess” that symbolises the entry of women into politics, but to the layman it looks more like an Easter egg in a 120ft-high wood and glass box.

Great isn’t it how they find ways to burn through cash. But don’t worry, it is designed to help our leaders find consensus. It’s a friendly building.

The collapse of the last summit in June was blamed in part by some participants on the depressing atmosphere of the meeting rooms and the breakdown of the air-conditioning.

It had nothing to doing with Mr Chirac and his unreasonableness then? Bearing in mind that the building will come into use in 2013, long after this problem maker has left the stage, it seems a little late. Predictably, the Lib Dems are quick to support the project:

Chris Davies, leader of the British Liberal Democrats, was ready to give it the benefit of the doubt. “If an imaginative structure can help inject a bit of vision into ministers’ thinking, it will be money well spent.”

If that vision is one of Europe without an overweening bureaucracy, then I concur. If not its just another example of why we should not let other people spend our money.