EU Referendum .

This is an important referendum probs even more so than the euro debate. If we joined the consitutuion then europe could have control over our police forces, our criminal justice system and law system. The law as we know it today could change drastically if we joined the constituition.

YES

this has fcuk all to do with the pound, driving on the right hand side of the road, losing the queen as head of state.. England needs to be heavily involved in EU decision making.

As an economy, eventually we will be overtaken by the budding giants (China, India, Brazil, etc.) - if these are forecast to overtake america what chance have we got? The only chance of staying is a strong nation is by joining the EU... So it seems silly not to be involved with laying the foundations of our future.

what i was talking about when i said we need to think about long term rather than short term, something that will really hinder us in the future..

can tony convert the 'knee jerk' euro sceptics though? and if the refferendum is passed, is it final? or does it still have to be approved?

any of the member states can knock it on the head i think. thats why germany are complaining - they're going to lose some of their weight.

that is a massively un-informed opinion for you Joe.

for starters losing the queen as head of state would actually affect you more than you realise! In Article 10 of this new constitution the Queen’s supreme authority as guardian of the British Constitution could be altered. It declares: 'The constitution and law adopted by the union's institutions in exercising competences conferred on it shall have primacy over the law of the member states.'

currently in the UK we don't have a codified constitution, we are unique in this aspect alongside New Zealand. what this means is that parliament has to derive its powers from a soveriegn. so without completely re-writing our consitution, losing all of our common law precedents, removing the monarch and becoming a republic the proposed European Constitution could remove the House of Common’s powers to overrule decisions and laws made by the EU.

the European Court of Justice would then have rights to make UK law. Essentially this could mean the European Unions Charter of Fundamental Rights would become law in Britain, and hand European Union judges the right to overrule UK counterparts. effectively leaving our country with no law making powers of our own, a very worrying point i'm sure you'll agree!

whilst our constitution is in it's current state we cannot possibly agree to a joint EU one, which actually removes the right of our democratically elected parliament to control law making powers to an un-elected, unrepresentative body in Brussels.

:tut:

this a very dangerous document for the UK, it has been designed and written for countries with well established and codified constitutions. we will be ok though as the british public's fear of europe will prevent us form ever entering into this current proposal.

*scratches head*

what does referendum mean?

how come yous are all clever??

or is it just me thats thick?

i have spent the last 12 months reading and doing a dissertation on EU law, it is my job to know and understand the implications of it.

I'm so pleased well informed people like you get to vote in important things that affect my life

errr, no it hasn't, the pounds pretty strong these days. see above

don't think so. It's a constitution not a treaty.

nope not that either.



Do you all believe whatever Rupert Murdoch tells you????????
:evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:

sheep!

so what does a referendum mean then?

its such a big word and im such a bimbo.

so you think it is a good idea si?

there is nothing this constitution is going to do other than create a bureaucratic and legal nightmare.

in our current situation we do not stand to benefit.

in principle yes. I'll admit I don't know much about the details but like the idea of having a written constitution to protect basic civil liberties and rights

WHAT DOES IT FUCKING BASTARDING MEAN

to realistically provide us with a sensible witten constitution of our own will take a minimum estimate of around 10 years. previously in countries with much less common law history than ourselves such as canada it has taken between 8-12 years.

it will be a long and arduous process, but i do concede that it is inevitable and neccesary as there is far too much ambiguity over what the basic civil liberties and rights of a british citizen are.

however until we are in a position ourselves where we have a written framework it would be very silly to try and implement someone elses written framework designed for someone with an already codified constitution.

hopefully i am making some sense! i also would just like to point out i am not opposed to a european constitution, in fact i am very much for this idea if done properly! what i am opposed to is something that is dangerous for our future and democracy at this current moment in time.

referendum = a public vote for everyone of voting age, to decide an important political decision. n.b. the goverment are also quite with in their rights and powers to ignore the outcome of it though.

constitution = the laws and powers that control and regulate central goverment.

joey.

Even though the Queen sits at the head of the legal system, this isn't nothing more than a nod to tradition. The monarchy has about as much say in law-making as a King Edward potato. Laws are decided between the two houses, and then sent for Royal Ascension, which is merely a formality. The Queen could stop laws if she wanted, but it would never happen.

We don't have a written, codified constitution, or any other meaningful constitution for that matter. Labour has forced or tried to force massive constitutional changes in the last 7yrs, with little or no regard for our traditional constituition. Look at Devolution, Lords reform (removing the Lord Chancellorship), and the Immigration and Asylum Seekers' Bill, all of these are massive changes affecting the way the country is run or human rights. Devolution was forced through with little Parliamentry debate, the Lords reform was quickly cobbled together with no adequate replacement, and the Asylum Bill has luckily been sent for review. All these changes have been implemented with no regard to our constitution, which shows how little Labour actually think of it.

As for Europe making law for us, they can already do this pretty effectively. Look at the Human Rights Act, would this have been introduced if there hadn't have been an EU Directive saying that we must introduce it?

I don't think we should sign up to this new constitution yet either, i think Blair's a bit too hasty in pandering to Europe. Would be much better to iron out massive flaws in our own constituion, and also try to alter the more negative aspects of the proposed European constitution.

when are we expecting the next election?

when is the referendum set for?

how long can we expect it to take between voting and approval if it gets approved at all?

and lastly - who would actually approve it?

Somebody reads the telegraph as much as he reads his legal studies

I'm not as well versed on the legal profession as yourself, but doesn't EU law only override national law where there are community laws? So how would that result in losing the Queen as the head of state?

I'm sure u can educate me... how exactly would article 10 result in us losing the Queen as head of state?!?!?!?