England has been wiped off a map of Europe
drawn up by Brussels bureaucrats as part of a scheme that the
Tories claim threatens to undermine the country's national
identity.
Telegraph campaign for an EU referendum
The new European plan splits England into
three zones that are joined with areas in other countries.
The "Manche" region covers part of southern
England and northern France while the Atlantic region includes
western parts of England, Portugal, Spain and Wales.
The North Sea region includes eastern
England, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and parts of
Germany.
A copy of the map, which makes no reference
to England or Britain, has even renamed the English Channel
the "Channel Sea".
Each zone will have a "transnational regional assembly",
although they will not have extensive powers. However, the
zones are regarded as symbolically important by other
countries.
German ministers claimed that the plan was
about "underlying the goal of a united Europe" to "permanently
overcome old borders" at a time when the "Constitution for
Europe needs to regain momentum".
The Tories are drawing attention to the plan
today, St George's Day. Eric Pickles, the shadow secretary of
state for communities and local government, said: "We already
knew that Gordon Brown had hoisted the white flag of surrender
to the European constitution.
"Now the Labour government has been caught
red-handed, conspiring with European bureaucrats to create a
European super-state via the back door."
The disclosure of the European map comes as
a YouGov poll commissioned by The Daily Telegraph showed that
one third of people want England to have its own parliament.
Twenty per cent want England to be an
independent country and for Britain to be broken up.
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