So, yesterday, Incapability Brown reluctantly signed the Treaty of Lisbon which amends the various previous treaties. (It is not the constitution, which would have swept away and replaced all previous ones, instead it just does most of it anyway). Reading it is a bizarre experience- it is largely incomprehensible as it refers in depth to how it fits in with the other treaties. You read it with increasing tedium, then suddenly a paragraph will make your eyes widen when the possible consequences become clear. (The Beeb has the documents for download in their treaty Q & A).

I am reminded of my days as an officer at national Level in the voluntary organisation known as Eighteen Plus during the 80s & 90s. We had a fairly scrappy set of ruling documents (the Constitution and Standing Orders) which underwent major revisions over the years. At each Annual National Conference it became apparent that the Group Delegates would happily vote for anything as long as it didn’t affect their day to day workings.  A number of us were procedural gonks (myself included) who would think about what the words meant and how they could be misinterpreted, or worse still, misapplied in a non-benign way. At the end of the day, though, no-one got heart, no-one lost their livelihoods and what we decided didn’t matter when the inevitable law of unintended consequences played itself out.

With Europe, however, we give ridiculous sums of money to a bloated, corrupt beaurocracy which gives us some of it back for regional aid schemes that we wouldn’t willingly fund ourselves if we made the decisions in the first place. The protocols and declarations document of the treaty has the subject as Final Act which is ironic, as a case has been made that this will indeed be the final treaty of Nations as they can now be amended much more easily without concensus. Nations aren’t written out yet but the signs are there that they will become multiple Regions instead. (The term Nations and Regions seems to be getting banded about more & more, Seb Coe was using it on radio 4 yesterday in relation to positive outcomes of the Olympics). Sub-Regions and Sub-Sub Regions now seem to be being promoted; in Bradford there are numerous large posters appearing with all sorts of people doing all sorts of things. According to the local paper It is supposedly about Bradford Pride, but the strapline is “I am Bradford District”. and I took it to be setting the scene as a Sub-Sub Region (Bradford) in a Sub-Region (West Yorkshire) ina  Region (Yorkshire & Humber, as run by Yorkshire Forward).

Anyway, the Constitution Treaty doesn’t take effect until ratified by all of the signatories. Ireland will have a Referendum regardless, we have been refused a Referendum via smoke & Mirrors and Belgium isn’t even in a position to ratify it, having been without a Government for six months.

As Thunderdragon points out, why the hell do we let the Politicians sign these documents before they are ratified? Does it say Without prejudice, or subject to contract underneath?

(EUSSR flag lifted from Anarchy.wordpress.com blog).