HIGH SPIRITS: Euroconstitutional
Aitken, Jonathan
HIGH SPIRITS JONATHAN AITKEN Euro constitutional RITAIN HAS BEGUN A JOURNEY towards disengagement from the European Union. Until recently the UK was a committed member of "Old Europe," to...
...Although the liberal media mocked the UKIP as "the new Addams family," these alleged oddballs played hardball extremely effectively, winning 16 percent of the vote and 12 parliamentary seats...
...For instead of listening to the electorate, his party or his cabinet, Blair keeps pushing ahead with his personal Europhile agenda even though it looks increasingly untenable...
...Secondly, the emergence of a visceral hostility towards the newly announced EU constitution, which has to be ratified by a "Yes" vote in a British referendum next year...
...Britain's laws on immigration control and asylum policy would be subject to change by foreign judges or by majority voting in Brussels...
...Apres moi le deluge," a remark originally made by Louis XIV, may just as appropriately fall from the lips of Giscard d'Estaing after the constitution that he largely devised comes unstuck...
...Nevertheless, in a mood of regal hubris Blair endorsed it at the recent European leaders' summit, claiming to have negotiated "a good deal" for his country...
...Blair's first European dream was for Britain to exchange the pound sterling for the euro...
...Thwarted in this endeavor by 60 percent of the voters and the opposition of his powerful chancellor of the exchequer, Gordon Brown, even the prime minister has come to see the euro as a dead duck...
...L'etat, c'est moi...
...There is popular demand for a fundamental renegotiation of British membership in the EU...
...For if one EU member state vetoes the constitution it will be back to the drawing board for the whole European adventure...
...The premier columnist of the London Times, Simon Jenkins, advised the Tory party to "make peace with UKIP or face humiliation...
...Houdini Tony has escaped before, but it appears that the twilight of European federalism and the twilight of Blairism are becoming inextricably entwined...
...The reasons why the Euroconstitution will be rejected are many and varied...
...always keep a-hold of Nurse / For fear of finding something worse...
...SEPTEMBER 2004 THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR 49 Tony Blair has now signed on to the European constitution...
...Meanwhile Tony Blair seems to be behaving in the spirit of another famous remark by Louis XIV...
...This was at least four times better than the pundits had been expecting...
...Will rejection in the referendum mean resignation from 10 Downing Street...
...Britain loses its present right to veto laws and regulations imposed by the EU Commission in 43 areas—including immigration...
...In that Bellocian spirit, opponents of the new constitution have had little difficulty in pointing out why the governance of Britain would worsen if it were ratified...
...He deserves credit for his political courage, but in terms of political reality this is a doomed enterprise...
...For not only UKIP and the Tories but at least a third of the Labour Party is likely to vote against the proposed constitution...
...This demand is likely to become even stronger in next year's national referendum on the proposed European constitution...
...First, a massive withdrawal of voter support for accepting the status quo of Britain's EU membership...
...A lot of wise money in the Labour Party is now betting this way...
...He deserves credit for his political courage, but in terms of political reality this is a doomed enterprise...
...Thirty-six articles of the constitution cede legislative powers from the Westminster Parliament to the European Parliament...
...The epicenter of the political earthquake will be felt in Britain where UKIP and the Conservative Euroskeptics will be in control of the European agenda...
...His countrymen will beg to differ in next year's referendum, which may also turn into a litmus test on the prime minister's leadership...
...In some regions it won 28-30 percent of the vote...
...The European parliamentary elections of last June 10 were a disaster for British supporters of the EU...
...Jenkins' argument was that UKIP, which advocates full-scale renegotiation of the EU treaties as part of a "civilized withdrawal" to a trade agreement with Europe, and the Conservative Party, which advocates partial renegotiation of J 0N T Al TK EN the treaties but with no uncivilized mention of withdrawal, ought to be able to make common cause...
...The gut instinct of most British people is that they don't see why their existing constitutional arrangements need to be changed at all...
...However, as dead ducks go, the Eurocurrency has a better chance of flying than the Euroconstitution, which is opposed by over 70 percent of the public...
...Thirdly, the strengthening of opposition to joining the euro and dropping the pound sterling...
...As Hilaire Belloc admonished...
...So these are stirring times for the changing future of Britain in 48 THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR SEPTEMBER 2004 Europe, with interesting ramifications for the Anglo-American relationship...
...Whether one looks at the increasingly Euroskeptic policies of the Conservative opposition, or the split on Europe within the Labour Party, or the astonishing success of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) in the recent European Parliamentary elections, the inescapable conclusion is that the writing is on the wall for "Old Europe" so far as Britain is concerned...
...The big surprise was the success of UKIPthe UK Independence Party...
...Suddenly the commitment is weakening as a result of new political movements and developments...
...If, as the opinion polls strongly suggest, the British reject the Euroconstitution, the European Union will not simply revert to the status quo ante...
...Realizing that UKIP's triumph could not be written off as mere protest vote politics, some of the pundits changed their tune...
...Fourthly, the growing political unpopularity of Tony Blair, who is a passionate supporter of both the euro and the European constitution...
...So the omens suggest that the coming battle for the ratification of the European constitution will be the high water mark of federalism...
...Yet it is only one example of how the new constitution goes further than ever before in stripping the British people of the right to govern themselves...
...ok Jonathan Aitken, a former British MP and cabinet minister, is the author of seven books, including Nixon: A Life...
...Four new forces are shaking the foundations on which Britain's relationship with Europe has been built...
...These are so strong that they are inexorably driving Britain into a radical reappraisal of its relationship with its continental partners...
...This issue alone could guarantee a "No" vote in the referendum...
...Their demand for re-negotiation of the treaties will become unstoppable in the UK and may well get support from several countries in the newlyenlarged 25 member EU who are already signaling that "Treaty of Rome" Europe has had its day...
...Tony Blair has now signed on to the European constitution...
...Until recently the UK was a committed member of "Old Europe," to use Donald Rumsfeld's caustic label for the Franco- German dominated EU...
...Even if they can't bring themselves to do so, their respective supporters constitute a large majority that is certain to win a "No" vote in next year's referendum on the European Constitution...
Vol. 37 • September 2004 • No. 7
