Celebrations ... Gordon Brown
Posted on 10/20/2007 1:33:50 AM PDT by Stoat
Celebrations ... Gordon Brown
GRINNING Gordon Brown joined in champagne celebrations yesterday after surrendering huge swathes of British power to Brussels for good.
The PM hailed the Great British giveaway as a “brilliant” deal as he took part in a back-slapping party with EU leaders.
He once again ruled out a referendum for the British people – as Tony Blair became hot favourite to be the EU’s first permanent President with a £250,000-a-year salary and an army of officials funded by the taxpayer.
He was backed by Mr Brown – who described him as a “great candidate” – and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who said Mr Blair was the most pro-European Brit.
Mr Brown was caught on camera as the bubbly flowed in the early hours of yesterday to celebrate the Lisbon Treaty.
The Treaty sets up the first permanent EU President and a new EU foreign minister who will take the place of our own elected Foreign Secretary at some key global summits.
It means the surrender of Britain’s veto in 61 areas of policy and leaves the UK open to EU dictats from Brussels.
Mr Brown was heard praising the work of Portugal’s PM Jose Socrates, saying: “You’ve done brilliantly. We’re very proud of you.
“You did very well, that was very difficult. I don’t know how you managed it but that was a great success.”
The deal was stitched up over a dinner of fillet of sole and chocolate cake on Thursday night. Mr Brown refused to drink any champagne himself to avoid being caught toasting the deal with a glass.
But he was surrounded by some of his 26 fellow EU heads of government as the corks popped.
Labour MP Kate Hoey fumed: “If he is so pleased with this agreement and it is so wonderful, then the people of this country should have the right to decide.”
Yesterday Mr Brown tried to kill criticism by promising to block any more power grabs for a decade. He claimed he had been “totally vigilant” over protecting Britain’s interests.
But by doing so he accepted the new Treaty IS a major change to the way Britain is run – sparking fresh referendum demands.
He will now force the Treaty through Parliament by next Spring, forcing three months of bitter Commons and Lords wrangling.
Defiant ... PM at the Lisbon talks
By GEORGE PASCOE-WATSON
Political Editor
GORDON Brown has been accused of treating us like fools.
It’s worse than that. They really DO think we’re stupid.
Never have so many porkies been told by government ministers than over this EU treaty.
French and Dutch voters overwhelmingly rejected the EU constitution two years ago.
So EU leaders did what they promised not to — they mounted a giant con-trick by rewriting it under a different title. That’s why we need a referendum.
Foreign Secretary David Miliband can trot out the same rubbish about the constitution being dumped until he’s blue in the face. But it’s nonsense.
Ministers would command more respect if they had the guts to be honest about this treaty.
Other EU leaders are happy to admit that it means a pretty seismic handover of power.
And that makes sense.
If you want a United States of Europe, you need members to pool power otherwise nothing would get done.
There’s only one reason to deny it — if you have something to hide.
HERE we set out the reasons other EU leaders insist the Treaty is virtually the same as the Constitution.
Ireland’s Bertie Ahern IS holding a national vote because he agrees it is 90 per cent the same.
Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel says the fundamentals “have been maintained in large part”, while Finland’s Europe Minister Astrid Thors says nothing has altered.
And last week the European Scrutiny Committee forecast that Gordon Brown’s ‘red lines’ will “leak like a sieve”.
MPs predict the European Court of Justice will start to make laws for
Britain based on the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
One red line — on tax and social security — is said to be totally bogus.
The EU will also have power under a ‘ratchet’ clause to dictate to future British governments.
The European Commission will be able able to impose new laws on all nations if a majority of member states agree.
The Treaty will force Britain to surrender extra oil reserves to EU states in emergencies — costing us an estimated £6billion.
GORDON Brown last night surrendered centuries of British power to Brussels in a “last supper” washed down with fine wine.
The PM has refused to give the British people a say in a referendum on the EU Treaty even though it is 96 per cent the same as the dumped constitution.
He casually tossed away our veto in 61 areas of law-making over a meal of grilled sole and chocolate cake accompanied by fine wines during historic talks in Lisbon, Portugal.
Mr Brown will sign the completed document in December before using his majority to force it through the Commons next Spring.
There was a delay in the talks as Italy and Poland dug their heels in as they battled for more rights.
But late last night the two nations were granted last-minute concessions.
EU leaders still had to clear one hurdle over appointing a new, more powerful European foreign policy chief.
But the agreement was all but done.
Mr Brown insisted once more yesterday that there will be NO referendum over the Treaty for the British people.
And he again insisted that the constitution — dumped two years ago by France and Holland — was NOT the same as the new Treaty.
Yet a string of other EU leaders have confirmed it IS the same — and carries 96 per cent of the measures in the original constitution.
And today Mr Brown's own backbencher, Labour MP Kate Hoey, agreed that the treaty agreed by EU leaders at the Lisbon summit WAS virtually the same as the abandoned constitution which the Government had promised to put to the country in a referendum.
She told BBC Radio 4's the World at one: “If he (Mr Brown) is so pleased with this agreement and if it is so wonderful, then the people of this country should have the right to decide because it is certainly 99% the same as what was agreed."
Mr Brown insisted he has won a string of ‘red lines’ guaranteeing Britain control over foreign and security matters, tax, and law and order.
He said hours before agreeing to the Treaty: “The British national interest is protected. This issue should now go before Parliament for a very detailed debate. All the protections built in mean Britain still decides on major issues.”
Mr Brown joined the heads of 26 other EU states for yesterday’s talks.
They dined on vegetable crêpes, grilled sole with saffron rice, chocolate cake and strawberries — all washed down with local Cartuxa wine.
Nothing was signed or initialled by the leaders — that will happen at a formal ceremony in December.
The Treaty will be the first concrete step towards a United States of Europe — complete with a permanent President.
A new foreign minister will replace Britain’s elected Foreign Secretary at some key international summits.
And we will be FORCED to surrender our seat at the UN Security Council if the EU has an agreed position on a global issue.
Our veto in 61 areas will go — making it impossible for us to block unwanted EU dictats.
And Britain’s ability to make deals with other EU states to stop Commission laws will be massively watered down.
Mr Brown insisted Britain’s national interest will be protected because four red lines will guarantee sovereignty in key areas. They protect us from EU laws on crime-fighting, tax and social security rules, workplace legislation and union rights and foreign affairs.
But the PM bluntly ignored warnings from his own Labour MPs on a Commons committee which last week said the red lines are meaningless.
They warned the Charter of Fundamental Rights opposed by Mr Brown will simply be imposed on us in future years by the European Court of Justice.
The opt-out from EU justice and home affairs laws is actually an opt-IN.
And if we agree to a new power in this area we will be locked in for good — even if the details of the measures change in a way we don’t want.
Shop-floor laws will also be forced on us after EU trade union leaders agreed to adopt a ‘social model’ giving workers more rights and saddling firms with costly red tape.
The treaty was drawn up to help the 27 European Union members work more efficiently.
Other EU countries happily admit it means pooling some of their powers to get the organisation to agree new laws. But Mr Brown and his ministers have repeatedly claimed there are NO drawbacks to the deal — and they insist Britain is coming out of it well.
The PM made it clear last night he now wants to take on his critics in the House when he tries to ram the Treaty through Parliament next Spring.
It is due to become law in the UK on January 1, 2009.
Mr Brown raised the prospect of bitter Maastricht-style Commons battles over the Treaty next year. The Maastricht agreement helped tear the Tories apart under John Major in 1992.
Conservative leader David Cameron has already promised a referendum on the Treaty if he wins power.
Mandate ... Hague
Last night the Tories unveiled a new poster campaign saying: ‘Who has a say on the EU Treaty? Not you. Just Gordon’.
Shadow foreign secretary William Hague said: “Gordon Brown cannot walk away from his manifesto promise of a referendum.
“He has absolutely no democratic mandate to agree to this Treaty. It is not just his decision — the final say must belong to the British people.” An astonishing total of 128,000 Sun readers have demanded a referendum on the rejigged EU Constitution.
Almost 84,000 called our phone poll, while 24,000 signed our online petition and 20,000 sent in coupons.
A SECOND village has won the right to vote for a national referendum on the Treaty, it emerged yesterday.
Locals in 5,000-strong Crigglestone, West Yorks, collected ten signatures allowing them to press Gordon Brown to stage a poll under the 1972 Local Government Act.
Another village, East Stoke in Dorset, decided by 90 per cent last month that they wanted the nation to have a vote on the new legislation.
Britannia
Please say a prayer for our Dear British Friends during this most difficult time
Demand met with refusal ... PM Brown, left, and Mr Cameron
THREE out of four Brits want a referendum on the re-vamped EU Constitution, a poll revealed yesterday.
They believe Gordon Brown would be WRONG to sign the EU Treaty in Brussels next week without giving them a say.
The Populus survey for the BBC shows public opinion hardening despite the PM’s pledge he has their interests at heart.
And more damagingly, voter confidence in his ability to fight for Britain in Europe has plummeted.
Only 49 per cent now think that Mr Brown is the best man to represent them.
Mr Brown refuses to honour Labour’s pledge to hold a referendum on the Treaty.
A staggering 100,000 Sun readers have backed our campaign for one.
Tory leader David Cameron said last night: “Gordon Brown promised a referendum and people want him to honour it.”
THREE out of four people believe the PM has failed to reduce spin since taking over from Tony Blair, a Newsnight poll showed.
PING! For our British friends and prayers (we'll need those prayers back in 2008, thank you - lol!)
The EU will end in war. I hope we stay out of it this time.
And with the stroke of a pen, Britain died...
No, the EU will end becoming in some kind of Soviet Union, ruled by a Nomenklatura, a caste, unconnected to the people.
Welfare has conquered this once great Nation.
The idea is not what we leave to our children but what will government give to me right now.
Bump.
The capacity of beaucrats to sell out their country is astounding and neverending.
I agree that this is disappointing, but please don't lose faith in our British Friends. My past faith in PM Brown has been, in large measure, shattered:
Brown hails Bush's war (Great Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer delivers glowing endorsement)
But there is still hope. Please remember that The Sun is a tabloid with a reputation for rather emotional and hyperbolic headlines at times. From the body of the article:
Conservative leader David Cameron has already promised a referendum on the Treaty if he wins power.
Last night the Tories unveiled a new poster campaign saying: ‘Who has a say on the EU Treaty? Not you. Just Gordon’.
Shadow foreign secretary William Hague said: “Gordon Brown cannot walk away from his manifesto promise of a referendum.
“He has absolutely no democratic mandate to agree to this Treaty. It is not just his decision — the final say must belong to the British people.”
Please send your prayers for Britain; don't write them off yet..
He will now force the Treaty through Parliament by next Spring, forcing three months of bitter Commons and Lords wrangling.
Pray that he is unsuccessful.
It will be us next. This is the New World Order where only the elites have a voice. How sad to watch Britain go down.
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Europe Pinglist. |
'That's strange,' Mr. Brown was heard muttering under his breath. 'This grilled sole tastes exactly like porridge.'
or, ‘Not being fond of the filet, Mr. Brown traded his sole for a bowl of porridge.’
One wishes!
Britain must not retreat from Europe
A German telleing the Brits to shut up! DON'T MISS THE COMMENTS!!!!!
The grand play of the differences between citizens and subjects; writ large, for all to see. Alas, England, I knew thee well.
bump
Alas I fear that we are already there. The cancer that is bureaucracy must grow or die. It is so entrenched here that our fate is sealed.
Sorry to be so pessimistic on a fine fall morning but all that's left is the endless bureaucratic paperwork.
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