Tuesday 18 November 2008

Crowing, And Not Before Time

Yesterday's Daily Politics featured an extraordinary thing. Specifically, it featured Bob Crow, a man of the Left, explaining why he was opposed to the Lisbon Treaty.

That was certainly a turn-up for the books.

The BBC never mentioned the three times as many Labour MPs as Tories who voted against Maastricht, it never mentioned the forty-odd Labour MPs who defied the Whip to vote against the European Finance Bill when a tiny handful of Tories had the Whip withdrawn for abstaining, it did not interview a single Labour Eurosceptic during more than one thousand hours of coverage of the last European Elections, it has still yet to mention that at least half of UKIP's vote that time came from naturally Labour or (especially in the West Country) Lib Dem supporters, it has still yet to mention that every Labour and Lib Dem MP voted against the Common Agricultural and Fisheries Policies every year between 1979 and 1997, and so on and on, and on.

Crow (allegedly an old Communist turned old Scargillite, but in fact, based on yesterday's interview, just someone who believes that there should be more council housing and a party which says so) even managed to get in that the EU is responsible for the break-up of our rail network and the attempted break-up of our postal service, pure facts that I had honestly thought would never be allowed on air.

What next? That the Tories signed the Treaty of Rome, signed the Single European Act, signed the Maastricht Treaty, all or almost all voted in favour the Common Agricultural and Fisheries Policies every year between 1979 and 1997, failed to put down an amendment simply rejecting the Lisbon Treaty out of hand, have never promised to campaign for a No vote in any referendum on it, have still yet to leave the European People's Party, and have never deselected anyone over Europe apart from George Gardiner for his opposition to Maastricht?

Or how about that the Lib Dems' support for the EU is contrary to everything else that they at least purport to stand for, and that they hold numerous fishing seats from the whole of Cornwall to Orkney and Shetland via North Norfolk, Berwick, North East Fife and elsewhere?

We live in hope.

3 comments:

  1. Bob appeared on a Tonight programme on ITV1 regarding the treaty. A mock referendum was held on the consti-treaty. Bob spoke for the no side, as usual.

    He's also appeared on Newsnight several times to attack the EU from a workers' movement perspective.

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  2. Good for us, as well. The corporate media are only too willing to portray opposition to a federal Europe as being somehow xenophobic or Poujadist.

    Truth is that the labour movement has traditionally opposed the moves toward European integration. It was only in the 80s under Thatcher - and the beginings of New Labour - that the tide turned the other way.

    The RMT have been the most outspoken union in regard of the EU treaty, raising the matter at the TUC conference and trying to get other unions to speak out for their members in opposing the attacks on popular and economic sovereignty coming from the EU.

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