Tags

, , , , , , , ,

Picture1Martyn Jones

Bonn, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany – 6th August 2017

They told us that by voting for Brexit we would take back control.

They told us that Brexit would mean control over sovereignty and immigration. Which would mean total control over the economy, culture, society, law making, international relationships and trade.

They told us that voting for Brexit was the only patriotic option on offer.

This is what the backers of Brexit, through media, political and celebrity bullshitting agents, and a plethora of Brexit’s useful idiots, were telling us we would get once we were out of the EU.

We, the people, would take back control, by running away from the EU. Because, we the people of the UK, can take on the world, and win every time. Even though we seem to have a problem in getting what we want from the EU, even when the cards were stacked in our favour.

It is derisible that the Brexit media and politicians and celebrities talked about us regaining sovereignty. This was an even bigger lie than the mendacious crap that the Brexit campaign peddled about us being able to free up an extra 350 million GBP a week for additional NHS funding.

If the long list of self-interested, mendacious and scurrilous backers of Brexit were to be believed about wanting to recover power for the people, then why didn’t they campaign for greater democracy and control before? What stopped them from campaigning for greater democracy as a senior partner in the EU? It certainly wasn’t the EU that was stopping us from having greater democracy in the UK.

If I was aiming to get more democratic power into the hands of every subject and resident in the UK, the last place I would start with would be our membership of the EU.

If I was to create a strategy to give people more power, this is what I would do:

Voting reform. I would ensure that all voting that took place in the UK would use a PR system. I would scrap all use of First Past the Post.

A federal UK. I would plan for a federal UK. I would also plan for regional parliaments for England. All nations and regions would be full and equal members of a federal UK.

House of Lords. I would abolish the House of Lords and replace it with an elected upper house, with representation from the federal areas of the UK.

A written constitution. I would get a written constitution for a federal UK, one that would reflect the constitutional needs of a modern federal union. It would take fully into account and provide for:

  • The shared values, cultures and traditions of a federal UK.
  • A definition of our fundamental liberties and rights, both as citizens and as residents. We would cease to be subjects, and we would become citizens – of both the UK and of the EU.
  • The embodiment of all aspects of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Rights of Children, and the rights of animals.
  • A clear definition of our obligations as citizens and residents of the UK.
  • The right (but not obligation) of the Upper House to elect the Head of State and to otherwise suggest alternatives. Better still, A presidential system based on the Irish model.

MP Recall. Right of voters to recall and to replace MPs. For example, on a quarterly cycle – every 3 months a constitution has the right to vote to recall its MP – limited to twice in any calendar year.

Supreme Court powers. The power of the Supreme to declare null and void any law that is in violation of constitutional human rights protections. Allowing elected Judges of a Constitutional Court to strike down anti-Constitutional legislation, would be a mechanism to ensure that the will of the people, embodied in their constitution, would prevail over the will of the elected representatives.

Examples of other things we might also consider could be:

  • A permanent war crimes tribunal.
  • A restriction on professional corporate lobbying, a ban on all undisclosed lobbying.
  • Elections for all Public offices, including all Justice of the Peace.
  • A new Central Bank to replace the Bank of England.
  • Partition of executive, legislative and judicial branches.
  • A rigorous restriction on all electoral expenditure. Etc.

In short, my idea of a constitution is of a shared manifesto, a statement of ideals, embodying collective aspirations, freedoms, rights and obligations, expressed in plain language and codified in meta-rules.

On the related subject of European Union conventions and treaties, there is nothing to constrain any country from positively exceeding the provisions of European-wide conventions when it comes to Human Rights and Civil Liberties.

A UK constitution that embodies the narrative and meta-rules of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, will not come into conflict with the requirements of convergence within the European Union.

Whilst I agree that the European convention is directly applicable in UK law, and aspects of the convention are directly applicable in the UK, I do not think that this convention actually serves to constrain how far the UK can push the envelope when it comes to embracing and extending the universality of human rights, and by implication, does not constrain our powers or control when it comes to giving power to the people.

So, I look at the toxic backers of Brexit, their nasty right-wing misanthropic acolytes, and their little self-harming critical-thinking-dodging helpers, and can only assume that when they clamour to take back control for the ordinary man and woman and generations to come, that they are either lying through their teeth or are off on some glorious pissed-up wander through a delusional and delirious La-La Land of past times, times which never existed and which will never be.

Nothing more to say. At this stage you’ll either get it, or you won’t. So, I’ll leave you with this quote…

“I once asked Rupert Murdoch why he was so opposed to the European Union, ‘That’s easy,’ he replied, ‘When I go into Downing Street they do what I say; when I go to Brussels they take no notice.'”

Many thanks for reading.

You might also like the following:

Other blog pieces that you might be interested in:

Donald, Mayor of Trumpton, USA – https://goodstrat.com/2017/08/04/donald-mayor-of-trumpton-usa/

The Madness of Brexit – https://goodstrat.com/2017/08/01/the-madness-of-brexit/

The Conceit of Remainers: The Brexit Boloney Continues– https://goodstrat.com/2017/08/01/the-conceit-of-remainers/

Brexit is Bullshit – https://goodstrat.com/2017/07/26/brexit-is-bullshit/

Can Ruth Davidson save the Tories? – https://goodstrat.com/2017/07/23/can-ruth-save-the-tories/

Martyn Jones, citizen of the European Union – https://goodstrat.com/2017/07/14/citizen-of-the-european-union/

Post-truth, Fake-news and Big Data – https://goodstrat.com/2017/02/02/post-truth-fake-news-and-big-data/

BREXIT: Where’s Theresa May’s Plan B? – https://goodstrat.com/2016/09/10/brexit-wheres-theresa-mays-plan-b/

UK POLITICS: The Jeremy and Owen Show – https://goodstrat.com/2016/09/09/uk-politics-the-jeremy-and-owen-show/

BREXIT: Theresa May’s Catch-22 – https://goodstrat.com/2016/09/08/brexit-theresa-mays-catch-22/

BREXIT: The Martyn Jones Solution – https://goodstrat.com/2016/09/03/brexit-the-martyn-jones-solution/

Spanish General Elections: Power, Pride and Politesse – https://goodstrat.com/2016/05/01/spanish-general-elections-power-pride-and-politesse/

Can you read? Be honest, now – https://goodstrat.com/2016/03/15/can-you-read-be-honest-now/

Lions led by donkeys: Intense mediocrity in uncool Britannia – https://goodstrat.com/2016/03/02/lions-lead-by-donkeys-intense-mediocrity-in-uncool-britannia/

The Martyn Jones Solution: From Strategy to Jihad – https://goodstrat.com/2016/02/21/the-martyn-jones-solution-from-strategy-to-jihad/