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The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights

ARGUMENTS FOR:

To suggest that Britain should not sign up to it - and therefore enjoy fewer rights than other European countries - is absurd and offensive. There is nothing to be afraid of in the Charter and much that we should welcome.

Objections to the Charter are the same old scare-mongering ones which led us to opt out of the Social Chapter. When the Blair Government at last accepted it, the disasters prophesied never materialised.

It is necessary to surrender some liberties to secure the greatest liberties: freedom from fear and the right to life.

The Charter makes the point that the pursuit of happiness is more important than the pursuit of wealth. Economic growth matters less than social ease.

The more we are out of step with other member states of the EU, the less influence we have - deservedly.
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ARGUMENTS AGAINST:

Decisions as to the rights we enjoy should be a matter for our Parliament to decide. It is accountable to us, as Brussels is not. Signing the Charter would transfer more power from Parliament to the Brussels bureaucracy, and would therefore be undemocratic.

Given that Blair is about to step down, it is wrong that he should try to commit his successor to such an important matter as this.

Accepting the Charter would weaken us economically and reduce our growth rate to that of France.

The Charter would restore the power of irresponsible trade unions which Margaret Thatcher curtailed, making our economic recovery possible.

Signing the Charter would be another step towards our extinction as an independent sovereign state.

FIRST POSTED JUNE 18, 2007

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