Tag Archives: Greg Sheridan in the ‘Australian’

Fighting for Freedom

I came across an article by Greg Sheridan in the ‘Australian’ newspaper which is so important  because of the British Supreme Court decision expected in the next few days, that I will summarise it here.

“Brexit represents the clash of forces playing out in the main Western democracies.  It may be about national sovereignty, but it is also about how societies should run, and what is the source of democratic legitimacy.

The clash is between a  postmodern, undemocratic, technocrat state, with its purpose the eradication of national identity and the transformation of human nature………. and a vision of  the universal quality of humanity with the nation state at the heart of democratic and civic loyalty, honouring traditional wisdom  and authority, and traditional forms of democracy…..

Remainers  faithfully represent the modern European constitutional tradition… that empowers a technocratic elite…. Give great legislative power to judges….. restrict the space for normal democratic decision making….

These,  shift power from electorates and parliaments to managers of information….. from thousand year old constitutional ideas to five year old ones, from habeas  corpus to gender identity.  Because it was Britain that did most to construct the ideal of liberty which is now being challenged, Brexit clarifies the constitutional stakes for the world as nothing else.

In the old British constitutional system, which Brexiteers want to uphold and restore, courts had very little role in reviewing British legislation. In the EU system everything  is ultimately decided by the courts. All  EU member nations must submit to European law and the European Human Rights Court.  Once politics is “judicialised” all politicians become mere talkers…….it represents an enormous transfer of power from the poor to the rich….The judiciary is drawn from an extrembly narrow band of society, typically from successful lawyers, by birth and education… among the tiniest sliver of the wealthiest people in the society.  Parliaments, on the other hand, represent all kinds of people— rich and poor, smart and dumb traditional and iconoclastic, conservative and radical…. 

Remain is essentially synonymous  with ruling class and that Brexit represents  an assault on the prerogatives of this ruling class…. Brexit has been an “all out”  administrative judicial, economic, media, political and parliamentary war. The battle against Brexit is being fought Europe-wide, with all the weaponry a cornered  elite has at its disposal.

 EU insider elites are extremely good at augmenting their own power…..impos[ing] this on the nations of Europe….. this hasn’t been very good for  those who live in Europe……. blamed for stagnating economies, dizzying inequality and out-of -control immigration….

Boris Johnson , like Donald  Trump wants an Australian- style immigration system.  

But the EU being blamed for rising inequality….. The fact that so many working-class and poorer areas voted for Brexit is used by Remainers, with fabulous class condescension, to show what an ill-judged, foolish decision it was, for the great unwashed could not possibly know what is actually in their best interests.

 …..the model of governance the EU  promotes pervasively diminishes   all the traditional and real measures of democratic input and accountability. It privileges the affluent technocratic elite with all its neurotic virtue signalling and tells the common man his life embodies no wisdom and not much value. This Brexit  revolution is a liberty- seeking missile.  Will it find its target?”

It will, eventually, but only with a lot of luck if those elite judges find it in themselves to respect the original democratic referendum of the British voters. This article suggests they may not, but if they don’t, well, it doesn’t bear thinking about!

Isaiah 29:14, “Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work Among this people, A marvelous work and a wonder; For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, And the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.”