Charter of Fundamental Rights

Stuart Weir (Cambridge, Democratic Audit): Amidst all the sound and fury signifying nothing more than Punch and Judy politics over the Lisbon treaty one common feature of both the government's and the Conservative position has gone unremarked: both sides are utterly opposed to the Charter of Fundamental Rights and have made no bones about it. The most important of the government's "red lines" is the protocol designed to prevent the European Court of Justice (or any external court) from interfering in Britain's domestic laws and regulations - that is, imposing any of the social or economic rights that the Charter contains on the UK. One of William Hague's most recent and hostile speeches on the EU denounced the Charter's provisions in forthright terms. Both parties are of course anxious to protect the interests of corporate business by denying British workers rights that their counterparts in Europe enjoy. Not so long ago Jack Straw reassured the CBI that "the interests of business" were at the heart of the government's negotiating position on the treaty. What is bizarre is that both parties are able, through the "red lines" on the one hand, and demands for a referendum on the other, to seek the support of the people for their point-blank refusal to contemplate widening the spectrm of social and economic rights - in working hours and conditions, collective bargaining, social security, etc - that would improve the lives of the very same people.