You only just noticed?

I wonder at times about Eric Pickles the Local Government Secretary, much of what he rails at I agree with, though his success rates doesn't seem to be that great. Good for a soundbite I guess, but not for getting things done. He's now having a go at the "Arc Manche" region idea proposed by the EU several years ago having inherited it from the Labour government (probably given the go ahead by that bunch of English haters as a measure of spite) Odd thing is, the English nationalists have been very, very unhappy about the EU's regionalisation for years and viewed with disgust Gordon Brown's continual pronouncement of the UK as a country of nations (Scotland, Wales N/Ireland) and regions (England) We were also aware of the Arc Manche scheme a few years ago too, though nothing we said or did could halt the slide of the Labour government towards the dismemberment of England.

Daily Mail.

Eric Pickles last night accused the European Union of trying to ‘wipe England off the map’ by developing a new cross-Channel region, complete with its own ‘flag’.

The Cabinet Minister condemned the EU for ploughing millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money into the ‘Arc Manche’, the name given by Brussels to an ambitious attempt to merge Northern France and Southern England.

Mr Pickles, the Local Government Secretary, says he is incensed to have discovered that Eurocrats are planning to roll out a new Arc Manche ‘transnational emblem’ across England.

‘Labour has been conspiring with European bureaucrats to wipe England off the map,’ Mr Pickles said.

Not exactly something that the politically aware in the UK were in ignorance of though. Still it's quite nice to see it get a little publicity though God alone knows what Pickles thinks he can do about it. Even if he had the power to stop it (he doesn't) there are those in his own party who would sabotage any attempt to try (yes we're looking at you Ken Clarke)
The only way schemes like this can be stopped is to leave the EU, our spineless treacherous politicians have simply given away too much of our sovereignty to stop any EU diktat from being implemented. We might have stood a chance if given a referendum on Lisbon, though clearly in hindsight there was no chance of ever being given such a referendum, the EUphiles know what the result would have been and for all their bland corruption and evil intent, they aren't stupid enough to ask a question of the English they know they won't like the answer too.
So, Eric Pickles has finally noticed something we in the anti-EU ranks have known for years, wonder what he thinks he can do about it?