This weekend Gordon Brown – whose carefully-cultivated cuddly image has been exposed for the sham it is in the last week – heads to Portugal to sell us down the river. The government – and especially the EU – wants us to believe there are opt outs and that this is not the unpopular constitution which electors in several countries rejected.
The thing is, it’s just that. Plough through the words, and it’s the same document albeit with the European anthem and other glitz binned. Cosmetic changes, no more. And yet most countries whose voters rejcted it in its previous incarnation will not be given a chance to vote again. The politicians can’t trust them to do as they are told. This is democracy in 21st century Europe.
As for Brown, if he signs up, as he will, then we are in deep trouble. The safeguards are worthless, and majority voting will start to influence our lives. Just as we don’t want eastern Europeans telling us how to live our lives, they sure don’t want us doing the same to them.
Thing is … anyone who has sat through the Eurovision Song Contest (seriously) in recent years knows that quality of music (never high on the list of attributes for winners) is irrelevant. Blocks of votes, based on historic political ties and animosities, win through, and the proliferation of new EU members means that we will become one small voice …
