A line in the sand

Courtesy of IanPJ on Politics, via Twitter, my attention is drawn to this post on AccountancyAge who report that a recent EU Commission decision may well result in a further curb in the tax-raising powers of our government. Not being an accountant, nor a tax expert, the 'nuts and bolts' are beyond my comprehension, however from the report:

"The commission announced yesterday that legislation regarding the transfer of assets abroad and the attribution of gains to non-UK resident companies were "disproportionate". It added that the measures "go beyond what is reasonably necessary" to prevent tax avoidance."

It is up to any self-governing nation to decide the tax laws under which its peoples live - but as the UK is no longer a self-governing nation it is accepted that the words prior to the hyphen no longer apply.

Much is made by us Eurosceptics that we, on an individual basis, have lost much of our personal freedom due to membership of the European Union, but have not our politicians lost even more? After all, they have ceded the right to govern this country - therefore is it not ironic that those who had the most to lose did the least to prevent it happening? How and why did our politicians so easily forget the freedoms granted us through the Bill of Rights 1689, coupled, where applicable, with their Parliamentary Oaths as Privy Councillors?

The idea that Parliament exists only by the will of the people is an argument which cannot be upheld whilst we are a member of the European Union. It is impossible to uphold that statement, when applied to freedom, if we abandon the belief in self-government and accept that decisions made by an elite - tempted as I was to use the word 'intellectual' before 'elite', which would have left me open to the charge of being illogically incorrect, hence I did not - in a distant land allow them to plan our lives far better than we can plan them ourselves.

The admitted aim of the European Union is political and economic union and no governing body can control the economy without controlling the people. However, if we accept the principle of democracy - that any governing body only exists with the will of the people - should not the people have the right to order how that economy is managed, resulting in how they live their lives and thereby determine their own future? Is it not a human right - a principle which politicians are so eager to promote - for the people of a nation to decide their future? As an example, nationally, we are told that the Big Society is a means of 'devolution of power', yet in reality it will mean yet more government activity in our affairs and is just an extension of the aims of the European Union - aka communitarianism - which is probably why David Cameron is so in favour of it!

Have we not fought wars, over the centuries, to defend this right of self-governance and individual freedom? Have those who fought and died in those wars died in vain? Were those who died not fighting to preserve the belief in self-government and freedom? Did they therefore die in vain? Did not those who died draw the proverbial line in the sand and state beyond that line our enemies shall not pass? Is it not time that we now repeat that ultimatum?

It cannot be beyond doubt that the time has come to tell our national politicians - and by inference, the European Union - that they have over-stepped that line in the sand; that they either retreat way back beyond the point they have reached, or we the people will force them to retreat! Cameron is on record stating that "the people are the boss" - therefore is it not the right of those who are "the boss" to decide when and if they want to start a revolution, regardless of what politicians think?