eurealist.co.uk

Immunity From What?
I read a News Release on 23rd September, “Government to end Crown Immunity from Planning Controls”. The list was quite long so I will mention only that “the Crown” includes Government Departments, Her Majesty’s private estates, the Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall and also part of the Palace of Westminster is Crown land too.

All this information is held on the Deputy Prime Minister’s web site where it says quite clearly, that this matter also involves the ‘devolved’ bodies and they too will proceed on a similar timetable to that in England. For him to have to admit there is a Country called “England” is a turn around indeed for the Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott. Of course this takes in compulsory purchase, applying for planning permission and under the proposed changes, Crown bodies would have to pay planning fees to the planning authorities in the same way that private developers do at present. Her Majesty, to the best of my knowledge has always been open to gentle persuasion in adapting to change without draconian legislation, and because of that, I strongly believe that Crown immunity regarding Planning Controls, should stay. What does John Prescott want to turn the Palace of Westminster into, for goodness sake? Or what will happen if/when the European Union takes over control of planning regulations and compulsory purchase orders or perhaps ask your selves has it not done so already through these proposals which are to go ahead to bring us into line with the rest of the EU?

Speculation! Could there be a compulsory purchase order on Buckingham Palace? What if the EU decides it would make a good “Head Quarters” for them here in what used to be the United Kingdom? Vivid imagination?

Here is the quandary as I see it. All this comes about because of the European Union’s Directive on “Environmental Impact Assessment” in relation to Crown development. The question is, how can we allow an outside body of people to decide to remove immunity from our sovereign Lady, Queen Elizabeth II? How can Members of our Government whose sworn allegiance is to our Queen allow this to happen?

It is ironic that successive Governments have used Crown Immunity, or Parliamentary privilege to protect themselves and to exonerate themselves from any wrongdoing. Now if Crown immunity was lifted from ALL Crown properties perhaps it will strip the government of their historic defence and maybe we will get genuine open Government at last. Another question that comes to mind is, how many organisations in the EU have Immunity? No one in this Country can remove “immunity” from any EU organisation.
Friends of the Earth in Northern Ireland want to end Crown Immunity in Court and have asked the European Commission to take legal action on the issue of Water Services’ Crown Immunity. Ministers have said that the Crown Immunity will be removed in 2006 when Water Service is “Externalised”. But how many more essential services left in British hands are to be “externalised”?

There is no doubt that there is need for change and I am thinking especially when people are injured or killed when working on Crown property.

I read that, and I quote, “Crown Immunity can mean, freedom or exemption from legal proceedings. Examples include the immunity of the sovereign personally from all legal proceedings. And in brackets (see Royal Prerogative and Parliamentary privilege)”

Government Ministers now use the Royal Prerogative for and on behalf of the Crown, but it must never be used in an innovative way. In ‘today’s’ world though, we have a Prime Minister that has signed a document in which he is actually prepared to hand over that precious gift of ‘Royal Prerogative’ to the European Union. His intention was clear when he signed his name to the Treaty ESTABLISHING a Constitution for Europe. Should we remain in the EU, eventually there will be the transfer of Royal Prerogative to the Union allowing them to have “legal personality”, to “Speak for all Nation States with one voice” and in all matters.

An example of this happened in 2003 when, for the very first time the European Union made an international agreement based on both the second and the third pillar. It was an “arrest warrant” between the USA and the European Union as a whole. There was no debate in our Parliament on the Arrest Warrant and neither was it debated in the EU Parliament. For proof of that, I will quote MEP Hernández Mollar in the EU parliament, “Now that we are drafting the new Constitution for Europe, how could we justify to the citizens of Europe that agreements impinging directly on their human rights come into force without being reviewed by the European Parliament?” As these arrangements in this case appear to have been done in secrecy, it should come as a warning that all is not as open and transparent in the EU as it should be.

I read that, and I quote, “No state or international organisation may intervene in matters that fall within the domestic jurisdiction of another state. The concept of state sovereignty was outlined, among other things, in a declaration on Principles of International Law (Resolution 2625), proclaimed by General Assembly of the United Nations 1970”.

Other recent attacks on the Crown are in certain Private Members Bills, some put forward within weeks of swearing allegiance to Her Majesty in this present Parliament. The Crown Employment (Nationality) Bill. For the removal of existing nationality requirements. Yet we already have (I believe unlawfully) foreign nationals serving in our Police Force and as Magistrates- strictly against the Act of Settlement and Magna Carta.

Are these foreign nationals walking round with sub-machine guns? Protecting the Queen? Protecting our Prime Minister? In SOCA? Have they sworn TRUE allegiance to our Queen? Will it mean anything to them if they have?

There has been a Bill to separate the Head of State and Head of Church, but the Pope too is also Head of State and Head of Church, as is our Queen in the United Kingdom. Treason Felony, Act of Settlement and Parliamentary Oath Bill, to amend Section 3 of the Treason Felony Act 1848 in order to establish that it is no longer an offence to express an opinion in favour of republicanism or advocating the abolition of the Monarchy; to amend the Act of Settlement to provide that persons in communion with the Roman Catholic Church are able to succeed to the Crown; to amend the law relating to the parliamentary oath. A further proposal for the alteration of the Parliamentary Oath.

We have already had a number of Terrorism Laws, each one removes some of the long standing rights that we have enjoyed over many years and yes, they are the Rights many have given their lives for, so that we need not be ruled by others, other than by our own politicians.

Since 1997 we have had the Criminal Justice (Terrorism and conspiracy) Act 1998.
The Terrorism Act 2000,
The Anti-Terrorism Act 2001.
The Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, where for the first time in British history the Home Secretary gave himself the power to remove the British citizenship of a person born here in the UK, providing in so doing, it does not make anyone “stateless”. (As stated in international law)
The Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003,
The Extradition Act 2003,
The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (Not exactly a terrorism Act, but it sure terrified ME.
The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005,
And the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005
So many anti-Terrorism Acts yet we have never bothered to close even one the easiest borders in the EU to control, which of course is our own. This open door policy has encouraged suspected terrorists to live here and preach their evil messages of intolerance and hate to vulnerable and impressionable people, and to recruit them and train them for their cause.

Can we trust the police or Government to use terrorism laws wisely? Haven’t we seen 82 year old men manhandled and held under the Terrorism Act. We read of a 17 year old girl on her first protest march taken off, DNA taken and house searched. People stopped by police because they are wearing T-Shirts with words again the PM. And haven’t we seen an innocent young man shot dead because the police “THOUGHT” he was a terrorist?

The Blair Government is not a progressive forward looking, modernising Government, Mr Blair is destroying our Common Law Constitution so much, that he is taking us way back before 1215 and Magna Carta. And yes, we have to start fighting for those rights contained in Magna Carta and our Bill of Rights all over again. Another oppressive, intrusive piece of legislation which I place a long side of the terrorism legislation is my contribution in opposing ID Cards. Although I have forwarded objections to this bill, I will only quote one observation.

During the debates in the last Parliament, one well known Government Minister very generously explained in debate that Her Majesty would not need to have fingerprints, etc taken although other Members of the Royal Family would have to. This would mean that the next KING or Queen’s intimate details would be held on many Data Bases and could be flashed round the world with all the rest for anyone to read. I find the Ministers words demeaning, disrespectful, discourteous, and any other “disses” anyone can think of. Yet these Ministers speak of RESPECT!

Mr Blair delivered brilliantly, his speech at the recent Labour Conference but I have no idea which planet or country he was talking about because it certainly wasn’t this one. The Blair Government has succeeded in undermining the people’s trust not only in the Labour Government itself but almost accidentally, has lost the people’s trust in most politicians now. His tinkering of the electoral system, (once the envy of many countries) has left it wide open to abuse and fraud. Our Common Law Constitution has been thrown on to the bonfire of modernisation until only the ashes remain and now while we are in “a time of reflection” over the EU Constitution, the promise of a referendum on it broken, which gives the Commission time to activate many new Articles and Agencies contained in it, with his blessing. He is finishing the job Guy Fawkes started four hundred years ago.

Whether you agree or disagree with some of the private Members Bills or not, whether you agree with the removal of immunity from the Crown or not, I passionately believe that the European Union is NOT the body of people that should have a say in what our sovereign Queen Elizabeth II should or should not do and our Government should not be the monkey to jump through the hoop of their master’s command. Their sworn TRUE allegiance is to their Queen and Country. “The essence of the offence of treason lies in the violation of the allegiance owed to the Sovereign”. Our Common Law Constitution will rise again like the Phoenix out of the ashes of Blair’s ghastly legacy, for it is the people that are truly sovereign, they will indeed demand their true liberty and freedom back, and they will want and they will get, their country and the governing of it back in full.

Anne Palmer. October 2005..