‘Sovereignty’ – worth the cost?
AS THE election approaches praise for the ‘success’ of Brexit Britain needs to be examined. We have apparently regained some ‘heavenly’ freedoms as if under the ‘jack boot’ of the EU we had neither democracy nor any independence.
Brexiters ‘forget’ that there were five-yearly elections for MEPs, of whom the UK had 46. Like other large member nations we also had two commissioners, recently reduced to one because an increased number of nations joined, motivated by the knowledge that membership of what is now a 27-strong team provides advantages that enormously outweigh any disadvantages.
The EU elections used the Proportional Representation method. If we look objectively, this system is universally accepted as more democratic than our current UK First Past The Post manipulatory circus. The House of Commons Library tells us that in the 2019 Election the following stats applied: 38,000 votes were needed for one Tory MP, 50,000 for one Labour MP, 336,000 for a Lib Dem and 866,000 for a Green. How can anyone pretend that this shows high level democracy?
In our perversely outdated House of Commons the two main parties sit facing each other a sword’s distance apart (unbelievable but true). This symbolises how we ‘conduct’ our affairs; conflict rather than co-operation.
As for our ‘sovereign’ Parliament; it was only in 2019 that PM Johnson, the bringer of such disrepute for the formerly respected Tory Party and for our nation, together with Mr Rees-Mogg, manipulated our late Queen into illegally closing Parliament for five weeks so that they and the rampant Brexiters could push through legislation without Parliament having a chance to discuss such an enormous decision properly. Was this outright attack on Parliament really something which proves our ‘proud sovereignty’?
Another example of rampant individual political destructiveness from a Brexiter was the influence wielded by Dominic Cummings, initially the power behind Johnson’s premiership. His principle was to ‘move fast and break things.’ We can but hope that the much-vaunted regained ‘sovereignty’ will guard us against any repeat of such undemocratic politics.
Brexiters also seem unaware of the behind the scenes influence of ‘think tanks,’ many housed at number 55 Tufton Street, which have powerful leverage within the Tory Party. Liz Truss was much influenced by these pressure groups. It is to be hoped that her rejection of economic truths, while PM, is a never-to-be-repeated pursuit of ‘sovereign economic independence.’
Equally relevant was the attitude of Mrs Thatcher, hardly known to want to weaken our nation, who determinedly participated in European Council meetings so that the UK could gain advantage from EU membership. She energetically applied the principle that sharing some elements of power with other nations provided a significant gain in global influence for all participants.
Since then it has become unarguably clear that participating in the European team is an effective vehicle to counteract the threat from China and from rogue power in Washington and Moscow. A small island state, already on the second rung internationally, will only sink further if it chases some nonexistent historical throw-back to the days of the Commonwealth and warm beer.
Perhaps the most recent example of the mirage of our ‘world-beating’ system was the decimation of Parliamentary stability with two PMs, Truss and Sunak, chosen not democratically, but by around 170,000 members of the Tory Party, the majority of whom are elderly white males with above average wealth.
All of this is to be ignored, as is the monstrous economic self-harm. The government’s own Office for Budget Responsibility states that Brexit has already reduced UK economic strength by more than 4 per cent. That’s an awful lot of lost jobs, failing companies and price rises.
Meanwhile on and on careers the climate crisis. We still have some chance to ameliorate its effects but only if nations work in the closest of teams; optimistic but achievable, provided we all ditch the Frankenstein hulk of ever-successful national ‘sovereignty.’
Jeremy Hall