There are people who think that the British or those who would identify as British don’t give a fuddle-duddle about observing treaties and agreements they have signed up to. Not so. Listen to this:
“The barrister [Austen Morgan QC] said such an [Irish Language] act could be argued to be a breach of paragraph three of article one of the agreement on equality, which states: “All participants recognise the importance of respect, understanding and tolerance in relation to linguistic diversity, including in Northern Ireland, the Irish language, Ulster-Scots and the languages of the various ethnic communities, all of which are part of the cultural wealth of the island of Ireland.”
So now. Don’t say Britain isn’t shocked by those who’d seek to ignore inter-national agreements.
Actually I wasn’t particularly shocked by Brandon Lewis’s confirmation in the House of Commons yesterday that Britain proposes to break an international agreement. Who does Lewis’s boss Johnson remind you of? Trump. And what did Trump do in 2019? He walked away from the Paris Agreement on the climate crisis which the US had signed up to in 2015. So why wouldn’t Johnson walk away from the Withdrawal Agreement with the EU?
Well, he might be given pause by remembering the words of his predecessor, Margaret Thatcher. In April 1975 she said:
“But for Britain to leave [the European Economic Community] would mean denouncing a Treaty.
Britain does not break Treaties. It would be bad for Britain, bad for our relations with the rest of the world and bad for any future treaty on trade we may need to make. As Harold Macmillan said recently: ‘We used to stand for good faith. That is the greatest strength of our commerce overseas. And we are now being asked to tear up a Treaty into which we solemnly entered’.”
Fine sentiments, which unfortunately history doesn’t support. Here’s one example, from Canada, where the British signed a treaty with the native people. Historian Michael Anderson’s comments:
“The essence of the treaty was to create a nation together that will exist in perpetuity, for as long as the sun shines, the grass grows and the waters flow.The core concept is to share the traditional land of the First Nations who have entered into a treaty with the Crown and the Canadian settlers, and also to benefit from the Crown’s resources, such as medicine and education.
But the text of the written treaties tells a whole other story. According to these documents, native groups surrendered all of their rights to the land in exchange for small reserves and meagre compensation.”
And it didn’t just happen in Canada. Wherever the British Empire exerted power, it lied to the native people of that country, whether in Africa, Australia, Burma – you name it. Once in a position to do so, the British set aside treaties and inflicted brutality and subjection on the native people.
One famous example from Ireland: the Treaty of Limerick. It was signed in 1691. It allowed for the famous Flight of the Wild Geese. It also promised religious freedom for Catholics and protection of property rights. The rise of the Protestant Ascendancy made good and sure that didn’t happen. It took until 1916 to defeat that betrayal.
A country doesn’t get a title like ‘Perfidious Albion’ if it didn’t have a track record for betrayal. Ask them in Portugal, or Zimbabwe, or Kenya, or Kuwait. The notable difference this time is that Brandon Lewis has stood up in the House of Commons and told the world: we break international law when we feel like it. You have to admire his honesty.
Comments are closed.