Boris Brussels Bollocks Busted

For anyone still clinging to the idea that London’s formerly very occasional Mayor Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson was fit to be a serving MP, let alone be entrusted with the Foreign Office, the moment of truth came when Bozza gave an interview to a Czech newspaper in which he demonstrated, in no style at all, that he is totally ignorant of the founding articles and principles of the European Union.

A complete Muppet. And Elmo from Sesame Street

As the Murdoch Sun has reported, “he said freedom of movement, which has allowed millions of migrants to come to the UK,  is not enshrined in the EU Treaties … ‘Everybody now has it in their head that every human being has some fundamental God-given right to move wherever they want,’ he said … ‘It’s not true. That was never the case. That was never a founding principle of the EU. Total myth’”. And there was more.

Bozza insisted “Freedom of movement of people across Europe is not something that was in the founding Treaty of Rome in 1957, it was not in the Nice Treaty, and it was not in the Maastricht Treaty … It’s something that has been acquired by a series of decisions by the courts, for example, the Antonissen judgment.” He also described the idea as “bollocks”, telling that Britain would have to leave the EU Customs Union.

Our Foreign Secretary has also told the Italians that their country would want Britain to have Single Market access “because you don’t want to lose prosecco exports”. Carlo Calenda, an economics minister, recalled “He basically said: ‘I don’t want free movement of people but I want the single market,’ … I said: ‘No way.’ He said: ‘You’ll sell less prosecco.’ I said: ‘OK, you’ll sell less fish and chips, but I’ll sell less prosecco to one country and you’ll sell less to 27 countries.’ Putting things on this level is a bit insulting.”

Thus the “they need us more than we need them” conceit was also busted. But what of Bozza’s “bollocks” claim? What does the 1957 Treaty of Rome say about free movement?

Well, actually, the 1957 Treaty of Rome says rather a lot about free movement (you can see the full text of the treaty, in English, HERE). Let us consider Part 1, Article 3, which begins “For the purposes set out in Article 2, the activities of the Community shall include, as provided in this Treaty and in accordance of the timetable set out therein” and then lists eleven objectives. The third of these is the relevant one in this case.

It reads “the abolition, as between Member States, of obstacles to freedom of movement for persons, services and capital”. This is expanded upon in Title III, Chapter 1, which states: “Freedom of movement for workers shall be secured within the Community by the end of the transitional period at the latest [1972 was the intended latest date, ie before the UK acceded to the Treaty of Rome] … Such freedom of movement shall entail the abolition of any discrimination based on nationality between workers of the Member States as regards employment, remuneration and other conditions of work and employment”.

Put more directly, our Foreign Secretary is the one who is talking bollocks. Free movement of workers is clearly enshrined in the original 1957 Treaty of Rome. And we have someone in charge of our country’s diplomacy who is not only a clown, but an ignorant clown.

Boris Johnson has confirmed what I have been saying for some time - he is unfit for office.