Europe's invisible hand
Our MPs have betrayed us. They have given away the fundamental right of the
British people to have their own elected MPs make their own laws in their own
Parliament.
No country can call itself a self-governing democracy if its elected
representatives make less than half the laws of the land.
Yet that is what has happened to Britain and to other once proud democracies on
the continent.
A recent Cabinet Office document revealed that the majority of our laws are
drawn up by unelected Commissioners in Brussels, and voted through by the
unaccountable Council of Ministers.
The Council is the only law making body in the world outside the communist
states of North Korea and Cuba which makes its decisions in complete secrecy.
The power of Brussels
No one knows how its members vote. And yet this is the body which some people
believe is responsible for making more than two thirds of all the laws of
Britain.
Even
the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, acknowledged the power of Brussels when he
addressed the Confederation of British Industry two years ago. Mr Blair
candidly admitted that more than 'half of all our major new regulation comes
from the EU'.
Instead of safeguarding our ancient democratic rights, our MPs have given them
to Brussels, or turned a blind eye whenever Brussels launches a smash and grab
raid on our liberties.
This begs the question – what are our MPs for?
Bananas
If they cannot stop our courts from prosecuting a market trader for selling his
bananas by the pound, in contravention of a European law, then just whose
freedoms are they protecting?
Perhaps our MPs are too ashamed to speak out in defence of these basic freedoms
because they realise they have been accomplices in their theft by Brussels.
In the case of the Sunderland trader, the presiding judge made it crystal clear
what we had surrendered when we joined the Common Market back in 1972.
'This country quite voluntarily surrendered the once seemingly immortal concept
of the sovereignty of parliament and legislative freedom by membership of the
European Union…As a once sovereign power we have said we want to be
bound by Community law,' Judge Bruce Morgan declared in April 2001.
Bound and gagged
And bound we are. The British people are now subject to more than 97,000 pages
of directives and regulations – eurospeak for laws – which the
British Parliament is powerless to reject.
Increasingly, what happens in our own Parliament is just a sham; a piece of
political theatre.
To
some, like the europhile Tory MP, Kenneth Clarke, the day cannot come quickly
enough when Parliament is reduced to merely rubber stamping Commission
directives. 'I look forward to the day when the Westminster Parliament is just
a council chamber in Europe,' the former Chancellor wrote ten years ago.
He may not have long to wait, as Lord Denning, former Master of the Rolls said
at the time of the Sunderland case:
'No longer is European law an incoming tide flowing up the estuaries of
England. It is now like a tidal wave bringing down our sea walls and flowing
inland over our fields and houses.'
Criminal intentions
Not content with taking ever increasing control over our own domestic laws, the
European Commission is eager to impose its own code of criminal law on member
states.
This was one of the key aims of the European Constitution which was rudely
rejected by the people of France and Holland.
Undeterred by opposition from the people of Europe, the Commission is pressing
ahead with persuading member states to give up their veto on criminal justice
and policing, using the tragic events of 7/11 as a justification.
Only recently, the EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini said this was
necessary in order to prevent another terrorist attack. An article in the
EU Observer cites him saying that the EU's terror prevention efforts are
'stuck'
because of unanimity – 'shall we just sit around and wait for the next
European terrorist bombs?'
Of
course we shouldn't. But Al Qaeda has never threatened the EU as a whole and
Frattini is just using the terrorist threat as a cover behind which to hide the
Commission's longstanding ambition to run a Europe-wide policing and criminal
justice system.
The Commission is clear about its aim. Here is the introduction to the Orwellian
named Justice, Freedom and Security website.
'The freedom European Union citizens enjoy to travel, work and live anywhere in
the EU can easily be taken for granted. To benefit fully from this right,
people need to lead their lives and go about their business in security and
safety. They must be protected against international crime and enjoy equal
access to justice and respect for their fundamental rights across the Union.
This is why the EU is creating an area of freedom, security and justice.'
No national citizens. No national criminal codes. No national judicial systems.
What the Commission wants are European citizens, protected by Europol and
subject to Euro-justice.
As
Mark Leonard, head of the Foreign Policy Centre, one of Downing Street's
favourite think tanks, has written: 'Europe's power is easy to miss. Like an
invisible hand it operates through the shell of traditional political
structures. The British House of Commons, the British law courts, and British
civil servants are all still there, but they have all become agents of the
European Union implementing European law.
'This is no accident. By creating common standards that are implemented through
national institutions, Europe can take over countries without becoming a target
for hostility.'
It is time to stop what Leonard calls the 'take over' of our country.
Demand a referendum on returning the right to make our own laws in our own
Parliament.
We believe that if enough people speak out we can get a referendum on the return
of this and other vital powers from Brussels to Britain.
Join the 87% of people who want a say in getting these powers back – and
demand a referendum. It is time our elected politicians listened to the people
and defending our democratic rights.
Footnote
Where percentages have been quoted research was carried out by
Yougov 6th-10th October 2006. 2205 responents were surveyed. Respondents who
refused to answer or didn't have an opinion have been excluded from the
figures.
Related articles
Digby Jones UK Parliamentary Scrutiny of EU Legislation.
Published by the Foreign Policy Centre 2005:
Click here
Kenneth Clarke in International Currency Review Vol 23 No 4
1996
See Mark Leonard's 'Europe's Transformative Power' at the
Centre for European Reform
'Frattini keen to speed up EU anti-terror machine':
Click here
Go to
Tony Blair addressing the CBI on the importance of
manufacturing in October 2000:
Click here
Official sites
Metric Martyrs:
Click here
Directorate-General for Justice, Freedom and Security of the
European Commission:
Click here