Gordon Brown again refuses the UK a vote on the EU treaty. This is apparently because if our ‘red lines’ are unbroken we don’t need one; as if that was ever a good reason. A good reason is the matter of where ultimate authority should exist, increasingly it is in European institutions. However, he has committed a tactical blunder. I think we now can rely on our Anglophobic neighbours to push forward some measures to break those ‘red lines’ and on the opposition to point out their success. He has effectively ceded the opportunity to point out the treaty problems via a referendum, to Anglophobic negotiators who need only cross one of our ‘red lines’. I trust that we can depend upon them if not Gordon Brown.
To cross one of these ‘red lines’ may seem to be self defeating as it promises a veto on the treaty, but the Anglophobic continentals may take a longer view. They can initiate a process of excluding us if everyone else accepts the treaty. We would be marginalised again and eventually forced to withdraw or enter into a second tier less influential membership. This is a high stakes gamble as some other countries may also veto or vote ‘no’. Perhaps we should pre-empt this form of attack by arguing for a lighter European membership project and making it our own. This would in fact be better for us and could also be argued for as a staging point for new country membership. It could ultimately become the more successful European club and would allow us to offer an alternative European vision. Then countries would have a choice of membership styles.
No EU Democracy
Jose Manuel Barroso: (EC President and big head): I don’t care what the stupid people think, we want more power.
David Miliband: (Foreign Secretary and annoying child): Me too!
Tories: (Where do we fit in and mostly anti EU party): Told you the EU is crap!
Liberal Democrats: (The whinge and tax party): err, that’s disappointing, we need an extra penny on income tax!
Gordon Brown (PM and ditherer): Arse! Does anyone know what to do now?
Although I am outraged because I live in what is supposed to be a democracy, I know its not, so I am not surprised. Further, I think democracy is an anachronism anyway, so lets ignore the lot of these megalomaniac fools and create something better for us all.