DAVID Barrie (Letters, Thursday, May 5) is right to highlight the Government's plans to ban certain vitamin and food supplements from sale, and right to point out that the Government has said that it was "compelled to implement" a new EU directive.

However, it should also be pointed out that this Directive was not imposed by "unelected bureaucrats in Brussels". It was drawn up by the Commission in the same way that UK laws are drawn up by the unelected UK Civil Service. It was only approved because the UK Government supported it in the European Council, and UK Labour MEPs supported it in the European Parliament.

The last two Labour Governments consistently spun one story in the UK, while pursuing the opposite line in Brussels. I suspect the new Labour Government will do the same.

Meanwhile, I wish David well in his call to Mike Foster to mount a public debate on this important issue. If invited, I would be delighted to join in personally on the side of freedom of choice and common sense: David can contact me via the Conservative offices in Malvern or Worcester.

Philip Bushill-Matthews MEP

Conservative Office, Sansome Place, Worcester.