I HOPE we are all saving our pennies to help pay for the swingeing demands for gas, electricity and water and council rates. Where's there's brass there's vultures, not the scraggy necked kind, but the comfortable ensconced sort happily squeezing poor sou

I HOPE we are all saving our pennies to help pay for the swingeing demands for gas, electricity and water and council rates.Where's there's brass there's vultures, not the scraggy necked kind, but the comfortable ensconced sort happily squeezing poor souls for every pound they can grasp.When the Common Market came into being, oh, so many years ago, I thought it would be a marvellous thing. Something like the Hanseatic League, a highly successful free trade area founded 800 years ago. Free trade, that is, but without the politics.It created work and wealth on both sides of the sea, particularly for the artisans of East Anglia. Politicians were careful to keep their noses from the trough.The EU has quite a different approach. The art of the game is to get rich quick and not worry about those struggling underfoot.How many realise that Britain hands over to the EU's discredited assembly enthroned at Brussels £6billion a year. Break it down a bit and it equates to something like £115million a week, enough to set up 10 state-of-the-art hospitals for Britain's beleaguered health service.For the price of just £1billion we could benefit from 40,893 more nurses and heaven knows how many operations. It would pay for 34,585 additional police.The EU is a farce, the world's largest gravy train. Unbelievably it has not had its accounts officially and professionally approved for 11 years. What are they hiding?Many people mistakenly believe close integration with Europe's political and totalitarian masters is in Britain's best interests. Rubbish. No wonder Gordon Brown has little option but tax us to the hilt.Just like a lot of private conglomerates stuffed with fat cats and greedy shareholders managing, for a little while longer at least, the huge gas, electricity and energy companies monopolising services so they can continue the life of Reilly.Certainly everything is rosy - not the system though - for those living the high life at Brussels. To them it's a case of making their mark, investing capital and then getting out while the going is good.Examine the water situation for instance. Already we are threatened with drought. Reservoirs are low, we are told, because there hasn't been enough rainfall. The conglomerate never mentions that millions of gallons a day leak from reservoir pipes that needed replacing years ago. If that were done the fat cats wouldn't have the cream, would they?At least we have plenty of water in the Fens, a reservoir of sorts. The test will come when we may need to use it, not only in the fields but in our homes.The world is in a deplorable state and it's not all down to global warming, man-made and natural disasters and terrorism.Many problems transpire from greed, power and lack of forethought and we all pay the price. Every time a disaster strikes someone cosseted in a fine armchair chuckles and makes a bit more room in his pocket. Remember, look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves. Sometimes that is.TREVOR BEVISSt Peter's RoadMarch