Denis Cooper coined this phrase a few years ago, and he emailed me a good example today, (which he also posted on the relevant thread at Con Home). From Hansard:
Mr Dominic Raab (Esher and Walton) (Con): The European investigation order would allow police and prosecutors throughout Europe to order British police to collect and hand over evidence... Britain has until 28 July to decide whether to opt in or, like Denmark, to opt out. Will the Leader of the House indicate when the Government's decision will be made, and will the House have an opportunity to debate the measure in advance?
Sir George Young: I am grateful to my hon. Friend. He says that the Government must decide by 28 July what action to take. I will certainly ascertain from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office or the Home Office, whichever Department is the appropriate one, what action they propose to take in response to my hon. Friend's question.
As D says, "That the Leader of the House is unclear which department of the British government now has responsibility for the activities of the British police speaks volumes about the constitutional confusion created by EU membership.... We seem to have entered a new phase where the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is in part a kind of Colonial Office in reverse, with the instructions coming in rather than going out."
Friday, 16 July 2010
"Government by international treaty"
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2 comments:
This kind of policy laundering seems to be the only way that any meaningful law gets made, whether it be at the EU level, or through ad hoc arrangements, like the ACTA process.
I'm not sure what I dislike more about it, the way that, when these treaties are made, everybody can sidestep responsibility for the worst parts by claiming that they opposed them, or the way that once these treaties are enacted, they are beyond direct democratic control and nigh on impossible to reverse.
"a kind of Colonial Office in reverse"
Thanks for that idea: it makes a lot of sense to think of the EU as an empire, except, like France, one with a president at its head rather than an emperor.
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