The recent vote on the EU budget in the United Kingdom raised some fissures in the Tory party. Thanks to ConservativeHome, the first story is about the amendment offered by an MP named Douglas Carswell to reduce the EU budget.
“Line 2, leave out from ‘2011’ to end and add ‘is concerned at the above-inflation increase being made to Britain’s EU budget contribution; believes that, at a time when the Government is poised to make reductions in public spending elsewhere, it is wrong to increase that contribution; and calls on the Government to reduce Britain’s EU budget contribution’.”
Thirty five other MPs signed on to the amendment. Among them were Young Turks Steve Baker, Kwasi Kwarteng and David Nuttall. The writer wondered how many would actually defy the party whips (think LBJ in his prime) and vote for the amendment.
The second story is the vote; thirty seven voted yes (Baker and Nuttall held fast but Kwarteng changed his vote) but several other MPs voted with Carswell. The Treasury Minister, Justine Greening, admitted that the UK is no longer a sovereign state:
“We want to see the 2011 budget cut. The problem with the amendment is that if we withdrew our money from the EU, under its terms that would be illegal. We cannot support an amendment that would make our action illegal, so we will have to reject it, but I can tell my hon. Friend that if he had worded the provision slightly differently, we might well have been able to support both amendments. It is with regret that we have to reject his amendment, despite agreeing with its sentiments.”
This is outrageous. The British Parliament that in no small part brought the rule of law to the West is no longer sovereign. May this never happen here in the USA.
On a different issue, Young Turk Rory Stewart reluctantly supported the UK surge of forces to Afghanistan. Here’s his conclusion:
“We must wish the surge all our best. We have embarked on it and are committed to it, and that is where we are going. So let us hope that it works—however, there is a very real reason to believe that it may not, within the time frame that General McChrystal anticipated or predicted. In other words, when at the end of this year General Petraeus reviews the strategy, and when in the middle of next year President Obama begins the draw-down of troops, it is unlikely that we will have achieved McChrystal’s two main conditions: sufficient pain inflicted on the Taliban for them to wish to go to the negotiating table; and, on the other hand, the creation of a stable, effective and legitimate state.”
Nation-building is a tough and risky proposition. That’s why the USA ought to stay out of it.
Article written by: Elwood "Sandy" Sanders