The EU treaty has been agreed in Lisbon and all the politicians are busy congratulating each other for what they have achieved. What have they achieved? Goodness only knows. The text of the agreement is now available but it’s all gobbldygook that most of us would struggle to understand.
Can we trust our leaders to be doing the right thing for us? Of course we can’t. Governments have failed to get things right for centuries. They constantly, mistakenly take actions which they may genuinly believe are beneficial but time proves them wrong. How would having 27 different governments, each with their own special interests, be any better. Nobody knws what the consequenses of this treaty will be in the future.
There are some who look forward to the day when the EU is a country. There are others who think it should be nothing more than a trading bloc.
After two world wars and hundreds of years of almost constant inter-european wars there can be no doubt that the EU has huge benefits for Europe and perhaps the world. Better communication and understanding between countries and more trade is good for us all but that doesn’t mean we and the EU need to get married.
The UK governments case for the treaty and for the denial of a referendum is that it isn’t needed. Given that we have no reason whatsoever to trust our government or believe a word they say, how can we rely on that? They have made very little attempt to explain what the treaty involves, how it is good for us or why it does not merit a referendum. Gordon Brown appears to be saying, “Trust Me, I know best”
It would be ironic if a Scottish Prime Minister who has never been elected by the English, the Welsh or The Northern Irish. A man who was selected by a small group of Labour Party MPs to become prime minister of Great Britain with the people of Great Britain having no say in it. It would be ironic if he were to be seen by history as the man who gave away Great Britain to Europe and finally saw Britain defeated not by war and killing but by paper pushers, accountants and lawyers.
Gordon Brown seems to be claiming that he knows more than everybody else and all those who might critisise the treaty are wrong. History will decide whether he is a giant of international politics or another confused and mistaken politician. He may feel very smug now, he certainly looks it when you see him in Parliament. He looks as though he thinks all this politics stuf is a playground game but history is less concerned with soundbites, less impressed by careful answers in interviews. History will decide and let us hope that history takes the view that he was right. It will be too late by then if he was wrong.
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