European Union

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Length of video : 75'

Disclaimer : The interpretation of debates serves to facilitate communication and does not constitute an authentic record of proceedings. Only the original speech or the revised written translation is authentic.
Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP

Is there really something so exceptional and special about Britain that makes the requirements of our country so different to all the other countries of Europe?

British newspapers have today referred to the gap between the UK and the EU, mostly relating to the issue of sovereignty.

But really, this is not about a gap between us and them. That’s an illusion.

If sovereignty is the real issue, why doesn’t Germany, France or Belgium bellyache about their sovereignty?

Are those countries so different to ours that something that seems so important to us is not important to them?

No. The issue isn’t really about our sovereignty. It’s about the power of the people who now govern the United Kingdom.

Remember the mantra – the slogan – of the Brexit campaign? It was:

‘Take back control’

But do you really think that was about the likes of you or me taking any control? Will Brexit give you or me control over our country’s borders, laws or money?

Of course not.

This is not about US but about THEM having control; those people who are now our political masters.

• If Boris Johnson et al had real respect for the notion of sovereignty, don’t you think they’d behave differently towards sovereignty of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?
• If sovereignty meant something to the hard-line Brexiters now in charge, don’t you think they’d recognise and acknowledge the sovereignty of the European Union?
• If they really wanted to give us, ‘the people’, more control, don’t you think they would have allowed Parliament a proper say from the start?

Since the referendum result, the Tories in charge have played every trick they can muster to bypass Parliament, whether through Royal Prerogatives, Henry VIII clauses, denial of debates or even to close Parliament itself.

This is not about our sovereignty. This is not about our control. This is about their sovereignty and their control.

For us mere citizens, Brexit means we have lost control.

Of course, if Britain wants to trade freely and fairly with our European neighbours, we have to abide by the rules of trade for our continent – as democratically decided by the remaining member countries of the EU (all of them, that is, except us).

Brexit means we’ve lost all control of those laws. We used to have a say in them. But now, we’ve been stripped of our sovereignty over our continent.

Brexiters in government don’t want to obey the rules of Europe that, through their doing, we no longer help to decide. Of course not.

Instead, they want to control our country’s laws, borders and money.

Not you. Not me. Them.

Don’t believe me? Just look at how the government is handing out multi-million-pound contracts to their mates, without the usual public scrutiny and accountability.

Our money, under their control. Our country, under their control.

Yes, there is a gap. A huge gap in understanding of what is really going on here.

Brexit means we – the people – have lost control. It means we have lost sovereignty. It means we have lost our continent.

We didn’t get our country back. We gave it away to the most right-wing reactionary government in recent history.

Only when we truly ‘take back control’ might we get our country back, and our rightful place as a full and engaging member of our continent.

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