Blather and the EU

I have been reading quite a lot about the EU, the WHO and the UN tonight. It always amuses me to read how people tie themselves into knots over things like ‘how to leave the EU’; it seems that the UK would have to invoke Article 50, or something that that previous government of the UK agreed to.

The reality is very different.

It is no accident that Treaties are not passed by Parliament. They are agreed by whatever current government exists. Sure, there will be discussions in Parliament, but when it comes down to actually signing the Treaty the government of the day simply does it. Thus, the existing government at the time agrees, with other governments in other states, to abide by the Treaty. As I understand it, there are lots of treaties still ‘on the books’, but which time has rendered obsolete.  The odd thing about that situation is that there is nothing that can be done about them. They are still theoretically in existence, but have ‘lapsed’. One could imagine, for example, England having a treaty with Spain a couple of hundred years ago, that in return for England only providing the oak planks to make galleons, Spain only will provide cloth to England for sails. When sailing ships succumbed to steam, so would that treaty have succumbed.

The reality of the Lisbon Treaty is that the UK could withdraw at any time that it wishes to simply by ignoring it. It really is as simple as that. I know that, in reality, it is far more complex, but that is essentially true. Just pull the plug.

What can the rest of the signatories to the Lisbon Treaty do? Will they declare war on the UK? Not very likely. Will they expel the UK to the outer darkness of trade bans? Hardly likely since lots of EU countries depend upon trade with the UK. And what about the City of London’s predominance in financial markets? And the UK’s armed forces? Despite cutbacks, our armed forces are still stronger than any other in the EU. The tyrants in Brussels would be very loath to lose the UK’s military power.

——–

The above is just a straightforward statement of reality in principle. A Treaty is only as good as the actual implementations of the agreement. If the Treaty’s obligations are not implemented, then the Treaty is worthless. However, it is possible to pay lip service to some aspects of the Treaty while actually doing little or nothing to implement the terms of that aspect. For example, Greece has given up on the FCTC treaty and decided to sell licences to establishments to permit smoking. In Greece, hardly any establishment is enforcing the smoking ban. The government there has given up trying, and so it has come up with a new wheeze – it will enforce the licence system! It seems that Turkey has the same idea.

=======

There is a point to the above meanderings. It seems that the WHO/UN have decided to add e-cigs to the FCTC ‘Treaty’. The ‘Framework Convention of Tobacco Control’ is nothing more nor less than a simple treaty. Despite the fact that some 160 states signed the treaty, their obligations extend no further than they wish to accept. I remember Milton MP, as Health Minister, claiming that the UK was legally obliged to enforce the treaty. Silly person! She clearly had no idea what she was talking about. No wonder that she was sacked.

The WHO has no authority to change the treaty. It would have to propose a change regarding e-cigs to the General Assembly. It will try to do so, and might well get away with it. But, as we have seen regarding the attitude of Greece and Turkey, it strikes me that the FCTC treaty is on shaky ground. Some nations, even though they signed it, are gradually disassociating themselves from it ‘de facto’.

One of the things that amuses me is the gradual elimination of ASH ET AL. They have served their purpose in the grand plan. They have no option but to support e-cigs, because of their previous pronouncements. But the WHO is not so constrained. It can TRY to enforce the demands of its masters, Big Pharma.

=======

In a simplistic way, it is possible to understand the thinking of the ‘great and the good’ when European integration was first envisaged. The idea was pretty simple. In the past three centuries or so, several wars have occurred in Europe. But only in recent times have battles raged for months at a time. In the days of Wellington (vis Waterloo) major battles occurred over the time period of one day. Maritime battles, such as Trafalgar with Lord Nelson, lasted one day. I suspect that even Wellington and Lord Nelson would have been horrified at the idea of the slaughter of WW1. What changed the scenario, in my opinion, was the advent of the machine gun. Because of that weapon, a battle no longer depended upon which army had the greatest numbers.

The idea of stopping European wars was and is a hugely important objective. I further agree, vaguely, that it is important to stop wars occurring anywhere in the world. I see the imperative of US/EU attacks on the dictator in Libya. However, the justification is lacking. Was Libya taken over by the UN and administered by the UN? No, it was not.

=======

Finally for tonight.

It seems that the WHO has decided to add e-cigs to the FCTC Treaty. Well, good for them! I hope that they get away with it. I hope that they add EVER SOURCE OF NICOTINE to the Treaty. I hope that the likes of Cameron/Milliband/the boy, Clegg make speeches in support. How can they avoid doing so when they have already passed Acts which condemn parents who do not comply with academic THINKING about how they treat their own children?

=====

THE WHO NEED NOT BE DESTROYED. IT NEEDS TO BECOME IRRELEVANT.