Same Treaty, Another Brexit Betrayal

Boris has come back with an amended Withdrawal Agreement (treaty) and a Revised Political Declaration (RPD). He has painted it as a wonderful 'deal' that delivers Brexit. 

Credit where it is due, he as essentially gotten rid of the Backstop that essentially gave the EU a veto on the end of Britain's transitional period. England, Scotland and Wales will eventually leave the Customs Union and Single Market. The fate of our compatriots in Northern Ireland however, is dubious.

But while all the attention has been on a border in Ireland, we have forgotten that this treaty is virtually identical to May's Deal. This same treaty that was voted down three times by our prevaricating and faithless Parliament.

However, a cursory look over the RPD shows how deplorable and unacceptable this treaty is. You can see why the Spartans (Brexiteers who never voted for May's Deal), couldn't abide it.

The following quotations from section no.77, entitled "Level Playing Field for Open and Fair Competition", prove that the EU is terrified of us becoming a successful economy independent of their undemocratic regulations. Note that we, having left, will also have no influence on those regulations whatsoever.

Let's pick out some salient and sickening sections:

'The Parties should... commit... [to] the standards at the current high levels provided by the existing common standards. In so doing, they should rely on appropriate and relevant [EU] and international standards, and include appropriate mechanisms to ensure effective implementation domestically, enforcement and dispute settlement."

We will have 'appropriate mechanisms' to force us to comply with EU regulations?! EU bureaucrats and courts will continue to have more influence over the rules running our economy than we will! 

Outrageous. 

But there's more if you can stomach it - do you wonder what areas of our national life will be dictated by the EU?

'...The Parties should uphold the common high standards in the [EU] and United Kingdom at the end of the transition period in the areas of state aid, competition, social and employment standards, environment, climate change, and relevant tax matters.'

This basically hands over control of every lever of our economy to Brussels. And what the fuck are 'relevant tax matters'?! Is Boris seriously agreeing to align our tax regimes in a perpetually binding international treaty? This beggars belief. I cannot begin to fathom this sickening turn of events. 

Furthermore, our poor fisherman, so totally hamstrung by the EU that they cannot fish their own waters while watching EU trawlers loot them with higher quotas, have also been screwed: (section 72: 'Fishing Opportunities')

'...The Parties should cooperate on the development of... rational management and regulation of fisheries, in a non-discriminatory manner. They will work closely with other coastal states... to manage shared stocks.'

Shared fucking stocks?! The fish in our waters are ours. An 'independent coastal state' should be able to discriminate against foreign fishermen stealing from our waters.

The degradation of our national sovereignty is enshrined in this heinous document.

The EU is shafting us and Boris Johnson is part of it. All he has accomplished is polish a huge stinking shit.

It is clear that the EU is wholly unwilling to let us leave in a way that respects our yearning for freedom from their institutions. If it was not obvious before, it is now - the only way to honour the 17.4 million votes of 2016 is to leave without any agreement whatsoever, whatever the supposed economic consequences.

However, I fear that this one path to redemption will be foregone by our treacherous Parliament. Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the EU Commission, has already said that an extension will not be granted. He has blackmailed us. On Saturday Parliament will have to vote either for May's Deal or No Deal. The EU has given them no other way out. 

Hopefully, that horde of brazen Remainers will be too stupid to realise that this treaty is tantamount to staying in the EU - which is what they want despite all their pathetic blather about confirmatory referendums and 'people's votes'. But I suspect the likely result will be our Parliament accepting this treaty, thereby dooming us to eternal 'cooperation'.

To paraphrase Winston Churchill: This is not the end, this is not the beginning of the end, rather it is the end of the beginning. 

The struggle for freedom from the EU will continue. Will it ever end?

 

PLEASE VOTE in the European Elections

Leave behind your stance on the European Union; shelve your opinion of the personalities involved; because this election is about Brexit. How we vote tomorrow is a signal to our government and the world - do we want in or out?

The strangest thing is that we already voted on this three years ago...

So actually tomorrow's vote is even more important than many people think. Dig below the smears and half-truths and we see that tomorrow is about democracy in Britain. Does our government implement the result of referendums or not?

33.6 million people, a huge 72.2% of the electorate voted in 2016. Between us we decided to Leave the EU. It was clear, legitimate and everyone accepted it. That's how democracy works.

Imagine if in 2014, the Scots voted to leave the UK. Three years later Westminster has not implemented independence and is actively thwarting it? There would be a righteous uproar! It would be braveheart all over again.

But then March came and went. The government broke it's promise to leave the EU. And then suddenly the Remain opinion leapt from the woodwork. Many who voted Remain changed their tune. No longer did they accept the result of the greatest democratic event in British history. This government, by breaking it's promise, has shown the entire country that it's ok to overturn a democratic result. That is pernicious, duplicitous and ultimately decadent. The values our ancestors fought for have become dust.

If we don't leave the EU in October you will know that your vote is as worthless as a vote in Turkey or China. I can't overstate this. Funding, milkshakes, posters, Farage and Cable - they're all irrelevant. The true question is this: Is our government democratic or is voting just a show to sell us the illusion of control? Voting for the Brexit Party is the best way to safeguard democracy in Britain.

It's that important. If we don't leave the EU this year that's the end of British democracy.

And since this is my last chance to influence anyone before tomorrow's vote I'd like to draw your attention to the rich irony in all of this: voting for MEP's is pointless. The European Parliament is the most magnificent, expensive and powerless legislature in Europe. So it is kinda funny that in this instance, voting to put our people in it has become a powerful symbol of democracy!

Let me prove it with the briefest research... The following quotation is from the European Parliament's own webpage entitled 'What are the European Parliament’s powers and legislative procedures?' 

'In areas such as taxation, competition law and Common Foreign and Security Policy, the European Parliament is “consulted”. In those cases, Parliament may approve or reject a legislative proposal, or propose amendments to it, but the Council is not legally obliged to follow Parliament's opinion...'

'Although it is up to the Commission to propose new EU laws, Parliament can take the initiative by requesting the Commission to submit a legislative proposal... If the Commission refuses, it must explain why.' [lol]

So when it comes to the most important subjects the European Parliament is nothing more than a talking shop; neither can it force legislation on the agenda, and take it from me, they can't change existing legislation because that requires new legislation! Instead, the unelected bureaucrats in the European Commission, who like nothing better than suiting the needs of giant corporations, run the show.

It's no wonder that our average turnout for EU elections is 38%. We're instinctively wise to it. Everyone knows deep down that voting in EU elections is utterly inconsequential. I dearly hope this feeling doesn't infect our future general elections and referenda...

I could talk all day about the crazy iniquities baked into the EU, but let me finish with a big picture detailing what the EU has done for us:

When we joined the EEC [EU] in 1973, Britain had thriving industries: aerospace, cars, ships, steel, fish; you name it we had it. Our working class worked. But then the 70's became an economic catastrophe. In the 80's Thatcherite medicine was as bad as the disease. In the 90's London prospered. Tony Blair opened our borders to eastern Europe and gave away our sovereignty. In the noughties Gordon Brown gave all our money to the banks and more sovereignty to the EU. We are only just recovering and still our working class are bereft. There is no manufacturing in Britain because we are just a small region in the EU - Germany does all the making, London does financial services. The rest of us? The EU doesn't care.

In return for our cataclysmic industrial decline we get what? Passport free travel? What have we given up? Just about everything: control of our borders, control of our laws, control of our waters, incredible amounts of our money, and control of our economy. And if we're not careful and leave while we can, they'll have our democracy too. The soul of our nation is at stake - vote Brexit Party.

Rule Brittania 

What is Democracy and why is it Important?

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a blog describing my journey from a Remain voter in 2016 to an avid Brexit supporter today. In that article I asserted that the credibility of democracy in the United Kingdom is now in question. That's because our politicians have miserably failed to take us out of the EU as promised. Following on from that I'd like to be reminded what democracy is, and why it's important. I won't be approaching this question academically, rather I will talk as plainly as I can and from the heart.

What is democracy?

Let's use a dictionary definition:

"government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system."

Let's break that down into sections relevant to our context:

"Government by the people" = We, the people of Britain, govern ourselves - no one else.

"...supreme power is vested in the people..." = British voters are in charge here - no one else.

"[supreme power is] exercised by... their elected agents..." = Via elections, we choose agents who exercise our supreme power for us. These agents are our servants and our will is their command.

"[agents are elected] under a free electoral system." = British voters suffer no impediment or intimidation when we vote. We are not obliged to vote because we are free. If we vote, our choice is never wrong, it is right - and our birthright.

Is democracy important?

Democracy is our way of life. Whether you vote or not, whether you think politics has any influence on your everyday existence, the fact is you live in a country built, shaped and ruled by your fellow voters - past and present.

Why is there a police force that enforces the law? Because two-hundred years ago our elected representatives voted them into existence. Why is smoking banned in public places? Because thirteen years ago it was voted for by our agents in Parliament. Why is this nation leaving the European Union? Because three years ago we voted to leave...

You may feel distant from politicians and the political process; you might feel that nothing ever changes whatever you vote; but it is clear that the everyday bubble we inhabit at home and at work has been made by past political decisions. If you know this then you know that politics could change your bubble beyond all recognition.

Our ancestors spent mountains of treasure and shed rivers of blood so that we could live free in a glorious democracy. Your vote next Thursday in the European Union Elections is a precious privilege handed to us by their sacrifice.* We should also consider that their fight did not only guarantee our way of life, it also saved that of countless millions world-wide. I shudder to think what Europe would look like today if Britain and the Commonwealth had not stood alone in 1940...

To live in the UK is to be envied. Why do so many people from all over the world want to live here? We are compassionate, strong, safe and rich by comparison; but most of all, we are free. We keep it that way thanks to our functioning democracy. Billions of people in the rest of the world are not so lucky. Remember it well, because there may come a time when, like our heroic forbears, we are forced to fight for our way of life.

In conclusion, democracy gives every single Briton a stake in their destiny. Democracy is a fundamental aspect of our way of life. Democracy is a gift from our ancestors. Honour their memory – cherish, use and protect your vote.

Rule Britannia

*I fully appreciate the irony of promoting democracy with regards a European entity that isn't democratic. I will be talking about this in my next blog.

The EU Referendum: Vote Remain 23/06/16

I have done mountains of research about this question. I have read everything there is to read about this subject and was looking forward to writing an epic refutation of everything the Brexiteers have said. But now it comes to it, I have not the time, energy, or inclination to go as deep into this as I initially intended. So I am going to do this instead:

•   Shit on the major Brexit arguments, namely law, sovereignty and immigration

• Explain why the lack of reliable information in this tiresome campaign means it is logical to vote Remain.

I am going to fulfil the above bullet points without referencing any damned politician or economic think-tank. This is about what I know to be true and what makes sense to me. So here goes...

·         LAW  - ‘Too many of Britain’s laws are made overseas by dictates passed down from Brussels and rulings upheld by the European Court of Justice. UK courts must become sovereign again.’

The Brexiteers seems to think that laws are ‘dictated’ to us by unelected bureaucrats in Brussels. This gives the impression that during the entire process of enacting new laws, the people of Europe have no say. This is a factual skid-stain. If anybody cared to look, they would see that no new law can be enacted unless the European Parliament votes for it. Yes, there is a Parliament in there somewhere, and the seats are distributed per country based on their population size. Therefore, British MEP form the third largest contingent in the European Parliament. Furthermore, those British seats are voted on via proportional representation which is more democratic than the system we have for General Elections i.e. First Past the Post. The fact is we are represented in the EU and our representatives vote on everything that affects us and Europe.

                Secondly, the European Court of Justice, like the Council of Ministers, has a representative from each member state so it’s not like any ‘diktats’ don’t have a British hand on them.

                Thirdly, these people superseding UK Courts are judges. JUDGES. They are not tyrants, they are unbiased executors of European Law upon which British and European MEP voted on.

                And lastly, who really cares? Is the preponderance of local courts that important to you? Is the notion of living with (as you have been doing) European laws so terrifying? Nations worthy of the name already abide by numerous international laws, so what’s so repellent about European ones which our representatives voted on? Is it really worth leaving the EU over some law that displeases you personally? In my view, it aint. 

·         SOVEREIGNTY -  ‘The British Parliament is no longer sovereign. With the EU hell-bent on “ever closer union” and further economic integration likely after the euro crisis, it is best to call it quits before ties deepen.’

Again, more laughable nonsense. The Brexiteers feed on ignorance so listen up. A few years ago our very own, supposedly redundant Westminster Parliament, enacted the European Union Act 2011. This Act means that any further ‘losses’ of sovereignty to the EU must be confirmed via a referendum. Like the one on Thursday. And given that the people of Britain will certainly vote to stop any loss of sovereignty, we need never worry about losses of sovereignty ever again. When it comes to politics, there is no way the European Parliament (of which we are part) could ever force us to do anything. They would be foolish to try.

                Oh and how is our own Parliament not sovereign when it has given us the opportunity to vote on our membership of the EU? Is some EU institution going to stop us leaving if that be our will? No, so forget about vacuous issues about bloody sovereignty.

·         IMMIGRATION – ‘Britain can never control immigration until it leaves the European Union, because freedom of movement gives other EU citizens an automatic right to live here.’

We could have controlled immigration from Eastern Europe when they joined up, except the memorable Mr Blair decided against using transitional immigration controls which other European countries did. We didn’t bother to employ existing EU-legitimate immigration controls when we had the chance. Because of that, and because the British economy is doing relatively well (while inside the EU) people naturally want to come here.

Who can blame them? Our civil services e.g. policing are relatively uncorrupted by for example, Russian standards; our healthcare is delivered free at the point of usage, every child goes to school till at least they’re 18 and the climate is basically temperate. People here go to work in the knowledge they are going to get paid. We don’t generally live in fear for our lives. We eat, drink, and be merry. Some of us are able to worry more about football than the economic future of our country.

The pressure on our public services, (which many EU migrants work in and pay for) is not based on overwhelming numbers of immigrants injuring themselves and copulating furiously. It’s based on the relative weakness of our economy which can’t pay for the required expansion. Or this government has not chosen to spend enough – whatever take makes sense to you. It’s about us, not them.

But if you insist that it is about them, then answer me this: Are you going to vote to leave the EU because there are too many Poles in that house down Stuart Road? Are you going to leave because you’re afraid of a bunch of Muslims coming over? Remind yourself that there are no Muslim countries in the EU, and that there is no likelihood of such a thing in our lifetimes.

If we in the Western World regard ourselves as particularly blessed, then we should remember that our populations have always been the product of immigration. In these islands we have had Romans come over, then Scandinavian Vikings, Angles, Saxons and Jutes from northern Germany, Normans from Normandy, Indians of all sects from the old Raj, and Africans from the old Empire. Why not a few Poles too? Why deny them what we take for granted?  

• Because we are having a tough time maintaining public services? Don’t be selfish.

• Because they are superficially different? Don’t be racist.

And finally, let me explain why it is just plain common sense to vote Remain. 

People have rightly complained that they have not been given enough accurate information upon which to make an informed decision. This is a reassuring trend because it means people do care about this issue and understand that it is likely to be the biggest decision this country will face for generations. 

The awkward thing is this: There are no facts to be had. 

Leaving the EU is a totally unprecedented event. Given that Britain is doing much better than our EU colleagues, it is somewhat ironic that we are the first to risk exit. So what is a politically sensible person meant to think when there are no points of reference? How are we supposed to think about this portentous issue and make the right decision for Britain when any information we are fed has to be taken with discerning scepticism if not outright disbelief?

Logic provides us with two options:

1.  Abstain – If you have no idea what is best then you had better avoid the booths altogether. This is not a time for guesswork for God’s Sake. 
2. Vote In – If you are unsure of what is best but are determined to vote then support the status quo.Since we are in the EU, and have been for some time, the onus in this campaign is for the Leave side to convince you theirs is the best course of action. If they have not done that, if you are not certain that leaving the EU is obviously best, than you cannot in good conscience take that gamble with this country’s future.

How can anybody be convinced to leave based on a few months of increasingly outrageous invective and wild speculation? Let’s Vote to Remain now, let’s give the issue proper thought in the future, let’s try to make things better for everyone in the EU, and if it nevertheless becomes evident that leaving the EU is wisest for us, than let’s put it to another vote. 

Our colleagues in the EU have had a tendency to take chances because they believed in something greater than themselves. They believed in something greater than any one nation state. It led them to create a single currency. It led them to let the economically weaker Mediterranean countries join. They told themselves that despite the risks, they would make it work...

Doesn’t that sound like the Brexiteers? Aren’t they the ones who have this fantastical vision of Britain outside the EU, cruising alone into a new Golden Age of patriotic sovereignty and trade agreements? Aren’t they the ones saying fuck the torpedoes; we’ll make it work somehow?

To put it mildly, I say no thanks to their fantasies. I’m not buying it. Vote Remain.