An exceedingly excellent report from the bowels of the EU behemoth. I will provide you with some excerpts but would urge you all to read it in its entirety. My Brit readers who voted for Brexit may pat themselves on the back and my 'Remainer' readers, well, one of them at least, can say, "Sorry, Dad, you were right, I was wrong!"
The writer is Ms. Claire Fox, formerly an MEP for the Brexit Party. Obviously, therefor, she has a point of view but her descriptions of the, er, actualité of the way in which the system works are simply factual - and ghastly!
Looking back at my experience as an MEP, there are lessons worth noting. I had assumed that a gathering of 700 or so MEPs from all around Europe, would, at the very least, provide a fascinating exchange of views from an international perspective. But the parliament operates through artificially federalised political groupings; behind closed doors the leaders of each grouping carve up who gets to speak, for how long (typically 60 seconds), and in stage-managed terms.
Why am I not surprised?
Topics for discussion are similarly preordained, prescribed by legislation initiated elsewhere. There are few opportunities for actual free discussion, so very few listen to each others’ speeches. The chamber is regularly empty save for a lone voice and the chairpersons. Interaction is reduced to a formulaic blue card system for asking questions, which in too many debates are ruled inadmissible due to time restraints and fiat. No wonder the parliamentary chamber is only full when voting takes place; because financial penalties operate if you don’t turn up for a minimum number of votes per year.
As I suspected, the whole damned thing is a charade!
But it’s not just the technical process that so deadens debate. Without accountability to voters back home, the atmosphere is one of a feudal court with MEPs forced to vie for favours. Interactions with other organisations are often confined to professional lobbyists. European civil society and NGOs that petition for favours and influence for their special interests are often themselves funded from EU coffers. This creates a system of patronage that encourages self-reinforcing group-think and a cloying sycophancy.
What can one say except, possibly, "Passez le sac de maladie!" - er, that's 'Pass the sickbag!' Please read the whole thing and then, at dinner tonight, raise a glass to the British 'peeps' who, for once, took the right decision.
Posting comments from an IRA supporter who defended them in their murder of innocent British kids now are you? ...
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-england-merseyside-48112981
The regiment would be proud, Capt Mainwaring.
SoD
Posted by: Loz | Sunday, 16 February 2020 at 09:39