Douglas Carswell MP: Europe: where’s our influence?.
The MP for Harwich and Clacton is putting forward a private members’ bill for a referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon.
In theory there is nothing wrong with a referendum. The problem is, at the moment, the British public is so submerged in anti EU lies and propaganda that it will be impossible for them to make an informed decision.
Even Mr Carswell himself seems to have a limited grasp of the facts. In the posting linked above, he claims that “we’ve surrendered our fiscal sovereignty.”
How exactly?
The Treaty of Lisbon says nothing about removing the right of national parliaments to set their own tax policy. Countries still have the the right to veto in this area.
I modestly suggest that Mr Carswell should read the Treaty of Lisbon before proposing legislation on it.
A number of British newspapers have described Sarkozy as “gloating.” Here is an example in this morning’s times. It is in their news pages, as opposed to opinion, which is where it should be.
The Telegraph has a leader on this not so fine morning relating to the story on the post below. Britain have apparently been “outsmarted” in the wrangle over the appointments in the new commission.
The new commissioner for the single market will be former French agricultural minister Michel Barnier.
The Telegraph’s leader accuses Downing street with having being “obsessed” with Tony Blair becoming President of Europe. I seems to me that this point has been mooted in the press for the better part of the last 10 years. Mostly, it has to be said, by those on the right fearing such a possibility, an inevitability even. But did anyone really think that this was a realistic bet? I doubt even Downing Street did. This is the guy who legitimised, in the minds of some, the war in Iraq. The poor man would have had to give up all his new found money making schemes, like squillions he is getting from Abu Dhabi (this should be an interesting week) or JP Morgan or Zurich Financial Services. The first leader to propose Tony Blair was, funnily enough, Nicholas Sarkozy. This was long before Downing Street said anything. They were probably just going with the flow.
And should a Briton really be in charge of the internal market? It is not even a signatory to the Schengen open borders treaty, unlike non-eu members Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. There are 27 member states. For better or for worse, Britain fought hard for the foreign job. They got it. Perhaps they should have fought for something else.
The Telegraph’s real gripe, however, is that Sarkozy said “The English are the Big losers in this business.” It is unfortunate that politicians on both sides of the channel gain tread by slagging off the other. The sad thing is that it works. It got the Telegraph going this morning.
***UPDATE*** Paul Waugh has a good post on this.
I’m not convinced that I’m going to be spending an enormous amount of time agreeing with Guido Fawkes. He has, however, pointed out a fabulous example of lazy journalism (by the same journalist no less) in the Times. See the headlines below. They speak for themselves.
Gordon Not the Only One Outwitted in Brussels – Guy Fawkes’ blog.
Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!