A Bit Slow

The papers have been reporting that Cameron is hoping his new plans will "head off" a party rebellion over his abandoning of any plans for a Lisbon Treaty referendum. For some, it ain't worked.

But for others it has. They've been taken in by it. Which is a shame, because it's such a poor attempt at a con. One is Louise Bagshawe over at CentreRight:

A Sovereignty Act making British law supreme is vital. A commitment to ignore the ratchet clause and subject every new power grab to a referendum is wonderful. Renegotiation of the various areas where Lisbon has gone too far is very important.

The European Communities Act was signed into law in 1972. I understand some people are a bit slow, but all these years on, some just haven't quite got it yet: British sovereignty is no more. You even have a court ruling that proved it.

Not good enough? Try it in a context with another country, the Van Gend en Loos case, in which the ECJ itself stated, "...the Community constitutes a new legal order of international law for the benefit of which the states have limited their sovereign rights." Such a concept should be abhorrent to us. It is completely against the traditional doctrine that the Crown-in-Parliament is the supreme legislative power. But if people like Louise keep living in ignorance, we have no chance. And with eurosceptics like this, who needs europhiles?

Of course, this is not the end:

... I remember asking my European Law professor whether there was any way of overturning the decision, or otherwise reasserting the sovereignty of Westminster. "Oh, yes", he replied breezily. "All you have to do is repeal the 1972 European Communities Act".

David Cameron is desperate to push this issue to one side. These proposals are the equivalent of jingling your keys to distract a small child. We cannot let him take away from us an issue of such importance for us and our country.

P.S., Actually had a modest tour of the Houses of Parliament yesterday. Felt quite sad knowing that despite all the work that had been put in to constructing and decorating such a wonderful building, it now means absolutely nothing.