by
Les May
WHATEVER
Boris Johnson has to say about the reasons for his decision to
suspend Parliament for five weeks many people, possibly a majority,
will conclude that its purpose is to prevent MPs passing legislation
to prevent the UK leaving the EU without a deal agreed by Parliament.
What
this demonstrates starkly is that in practice the UK Parliament
‘taking back control’ of our laws from the European Court of
Justice will mean the government of the day can always get its way
because there is no higher authority to prevent this. In the extreme
the UK Parliament could vote itself out of existence and establish
Boris, or one of his successors, as dictator.
If
you think this is fanciful I would remind you that it is what
happened in Germany in 1933 when the Reichstag voted through the
‘Enabling Bill’ which gave full powers to Hitler. Less
than three months later all non-Nazi parties, organizations, and
unions ceased to exist.
At
present as citizens of a country which is a member of the EU our
rights are protected by
the ‘Convention
for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms’
(ECHR)
which
dates back to 1950. Article
3 of the First Protocol relates specifically to the Right
to Free Elections.
The
ECHR is
enshrined in UK law by the ‘Human
Rights Act 1998’.
What
happens after we leave is anyone’s guess. Do you trust Boris
Johnson to protect your fundamental rights.
In
January 2019 this appeared on the UK
Parliament website:
Human Rights Act is not safe after Brexit
In its response to a letter from the House of Lords EU Justice Sub-Committee, the Government has failed to give assurances that it will not repeal or replace the Human Rights Act – a stark contrast to its proclaimed commitment to ‘shared values of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms’.The House of Lords EU Justice Sub-Committee wrote to Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice David Gauke in December regarding the rights of citizens post-Brexit. The Committee sought an explanation for the dilution of the Government’s commitment to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
Last week the Committee received a troubling response. While again pledging an unchanging commitment to human rights and fundamental freedoms, the letter from Edward Argar MP, Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Justice, ended with reference to the Government’s intention to revisit the Human Rights Act once the process of leaving the EU is concluded.
If
all this seems a little abstract here is a concrete example where the
ECHR and the more recent
Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union played a
significant part.
Prior
to the Fees Order
of 2013 employees could bring and pursue proceedings to enforce their
statutory rights in an Employment Tribunal (ET) or Employment Appeal
Tribunal (EAT) without paying a fee. The Fees Order imposed a charge
of £1,200 to bring proceedings for unfair dismissal, equal pay and
discrimination claims, and £390 for lesser claims.
In
launching proceedings for judicial review the trade union UNISON
argued that the making of the Fees Order was not a lawful exercise of
the Lord
Chancellor’s
statutory powers, because the prescribed fees interfere unjustifiably
with the right of access to justice under both the common law and EU
law and frustrate the operation of Parliamentary legislation granting
employment rights.
Seven
Justices of the Supreme Court agreed it
was unlawful and must
be quashed. In paragraphs
105 to 117 of the
judgement specific
reference is made to
relevant EU law.
The
Charter of Fundamental
Rights
of the European
Union
can be found at:
Johnson
has a reputation for not always telling the truth so we have to judge
him by his actions, not his words. If this is what we can expect
from him in the future then some Tory MPs are going to have to decide
whether they are willing to continue with a dodgy prime minister in
the shape of Johnson or hold their noses and risk a brief Corbyn led
government calling an election in which their main rivals will be the
Brexit party.
If
the leader of the Scottish Tories resigns as seems to be a
possibility, they are going to look an awfully weak bunch.
**********
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