Lisbon Treaty’s Rights-based Europe Will Not Work

Following a report in The Guardian today on the Chairman of the European Foundation, “Tory eurosceptic Bill Cash (Stone) questioned how the treaty can be ‘advancing our democracy’ by allowing European court of justice rulings to replace UK acts of parliament,” the European Foundation can only further endorse his arguments against a rights-based Europe. The British Government must protect basic British freedoms and British democracy before it ratifies a Treaty which surrenders them all for a rights-based Europe. This will not work in the long-term.

The assertion by Jack Straw on the Lisbon Treaty that "It's right that we collectively take further steps to make the promotion of human rights integral to being part of Europe”, is misleading and workable only under socialist doctrine. The Labour Government’s defense of the human rights provisions are unworkable in today's global reality and the Treaty must be stopped.

It is not in the interests of the British people or their Government to further commit themselves to a massive extension of supposed “rights” which will further diminish the power of the Westminster Parliament under the Treaty's empowerment of the European Court of Justice and remove the creation of opportunities for UK citizens (workable businesses will simply not tolerate an excessively regulated and rights-based Europe). Futhermore, it throws into question whether UK citizens are now EU citizens, since Article 8 and 17 imply that our allegiance is now to the Union and not merely to subsidiary territory it once called a 'Nation'. If this Treaty does signify such massive changes, then the people must have their vote.