A senior Conservative MEP today welcomed the announcement of a new and comprehensive programme of research into the mysterious collapse of honeybee numbers across Europe.

This week, Conservative MEPs have refused to approve the EU's accounts for 2010 as a mark of their continuing campaign against waste and mis-spending.

In a series of votes in Brussels, MEPs were asked to grant a discharge to elements of the EU budget including spending by the European Commission, the costly Committee of the Regions, the Parliament itself and Qangos such as EFSA.

The European Commission recently presented its proposal for the EU's 2013 budget.  As predicted in newspaper reports, Commissioners are seeking an increase of almost seven per cent overall? The UK contributes 12.4 per cent of the EU's spending so the proposed budget would add £898 million, bringing Britain's annual bill to £14 billion or £666 per household.