The TUC and EU

Today I managed to avoid watching the TUC on BBC Parliament as I decided to watch Dr Jacob Bronowski talk about classical medicine and wheat instead. But it is good to hear that the union delegates have voted in favour of a referendum on the EU treaty and in doing so have put a few more tons of pressure on the Scot to hold one.

Us Tories, UKIP (no surprise there), a few Socialists and Liberals MP are also backing a referendum, shame the TUC is also using the conference to back co-ordinated strikes.

From what I know, this vote was about the government’s resolution on a special ‘modus operandi’ in the charter of fundamental rights which would effect employment protection including the rights of the trade unions which has caused “very bad feeling” between them and Gordon Brown. Unless these terms changes, it appears that it would be very difficult for the unions to persuade workers to vote yes on the referendum.

I look forward for Parliament to reassemble so David Cameron can have his chance to lead to Commons campaign for a EU referendum as this appears to be a hot topic with the public, of course and it may tower over the next election.

Brown and Cameron debating this at the dispatch box should be interesting…

The EU Con

I will talk briefly on the need for a referendum on the EU constitution because I believe that if this country is indeed a democracy then we should been given the chance to have one. I will of course try my best bypass the dreaded constitution itself as this post is about a necessity rather then a personal tirade.

I use the word necessity because I believe that a referendum on the EU constitution should be a obligation that the government sticks to because we were promised one at the last election and going back on that promise can cause less trust in politicians and harm our idea of democracy.

Before the last election in 2004 the French and the people of the Netherlands discarded the EU constitution in their referendum and I think the European state dreamers should have accepted that the idea was dead and that the EU should be just about trade and nothing more.

But before leaving office, Tony Blair signed up to this new treaty which is "radically different" to the original and therefore a referendum is not needed. What rubbish! Hans Martin Bury said "The EU Constitution is the birth certificate of the United States of Europe", which would be a disaster and we have seen what happens when Europe is administered by one capital city, I don’t think that “Brussels is the light”.

I believe this new contract is just a way to recreate the old one by the back door and the author of the original constitution, Giscard d'Estaing even said the differences between the new document and his original are "few and far between" and "more cosmetic than real". I hate to admit it but I respect him for being honest about it.

Therefore I think that as the constitution can suck away our powers over matters like immigration and transport policy like a giant magnet, we should be given the right to have a vote on if we want it or not. I feel the same way about an EU President as a Christian would about the Roman Emperor Nero.

Anyway I think that people should voice their concerns and act against this and give our message to Gordon Brown that we want a referendum.

So please support Nirj Deva DL MEP, Member of the European Parliament for South East England, in expressing this necessity and sign the petition below.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/euconstitution

Otherwise if Brown forces this constitution on us then British democracy is just a theory and in practice we truly live in a country where the government ignores the wishes of the people it is meant to represent.

Stop the arms trade to the wrong people.