Last week Prime Minister Boris Johnson managed what many people thought was impossible. He returned from Brussels after securing a ‘new deal’ with the European Union, removing the so-called ‘Irish backstop’. In some ways it reminded me of when Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain returned from a meeting with Adolf Hitler in 1938, waving a white piece of paper and declaring “Peace in our time!”
On 16 October Channel 5 broadcast a live debate entitled ‘Do We Want a No-Deal Brexit?’ There were three panellists and three camps in the audience. Three positions were represented: ‘Pro-deal’ advocates, ‘No-deal’ Brexiteers and ‘Remainers’. A number of issues were debated for each of these positions: the economy, trade, immigration, workers’ rights, the environment, the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic, and the ‘peace process’, among others. Not once did I hear mentioned the matter of sovereignty of the United Kingdom to govern itself and make its own laws without interference from the EU.
In June 2016, for most people who voted to leave the EU, the restoration of the UK’s sovereignty as a nation was the overriding issue. Somehow, with the pre-eminence of the debate about trade and the economy, this compelling issue has been buried. For the most part, for the institutional Church in Britain, the lure of ‘Mammon’ and the siren call of security have obscured God’s purpose for our nation and the Christian heritage he had bestowed upon us.
Tower of Babel?
In the Book of Acts the Apostle Paul says that the Lord “has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him…” (Acts 17:26-27). This not only applies to the UK; it also applies to each of the nations in Europe – and indeed across the world.
When Britain joined the European Economic Community in the early 1970s – otherwise then known as ‘the Common Market’ – the British people were deceived into believing that what Britain was getting into was just that: a common market, and no more. Even then, what was planned was a European ‘super-state’ whereby the member nations in the EEC would surrender their sovereignty in favour of political union. Then-Prime Minister Edward Heath, along with other European leaders, knew exactly what was in the pipeline, yet the idea of political integration was concealed from the people. Moreover, the media downplayed it, and continues to do so today.
When the European Parliament building in Strasbourg was constructed, architecturally it was modelled on artist Peter Bruegel’s painting of the Tower of Babel dating back to the Renaissance. Perhaps the similarities between the two enterprises are borne out by Pope Benedict’s berating of the EU, on the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome in 2007, for excluding any mention of God or Christianity from its Constitution. He said: “Does not this unique form of apostasy of itself, even before God, lead [Europe] to doubt its very identity?”1 Yet, most leaders in the British Church, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, want to keep our nation tied to this godless institution.
In June 2016, for most people who voted to leave the EU, the restoration of the UK’s sovereignty as a nation was the overriding issue. Somehow, with trade and the economy taking precedence in the debate, this compelling issue has been buried.
Boris’s ‘Deal’
Since Boris Johnson returned from Brussels last week, the House of Commons has done everything it can to obstruct the passage of ‘the deal’ through Parliament, although a majority appears to have agreed to it in principle. The purpose of the obstruction is to try to ensure that there is not a ‘no-deal’ Brexit (and ideally, that there is no Brexit at all). At the time of writing, a ‘no-deal’ Brexit on 31 October looks impossible – unless the Lord miraculously intervenes. Nevertheless, the obstruction of the legislation needed to rush it though in time may well be the Lord’s hand. Had ‘the deal’ gone through, it would have been a disaster.
What is so dangerous about the ‘deal’ that has been struck? It is actually the Withdrawal Agreement negotiated by Theresa May, but with the Irish backstop removed, which was Boris Johnson’s ultimate goal. But does this ‘tweak’ in the Withdrawal Agreement ensure that Britain regains full sovereignty? One needs to bear in mind that the Withdrawal Agreement, once fully ratified, is an international treaty that binds Britain to its terms for time immemorial – and indeed many aspects of this treaty will keep Britain tied to the EU in a number of areas. Two of these areas are foreign policy and military cooperation.
Will Brexit Regain Our Sovereignty?
I recently covered the foreign policy issue in an article entitled Countdown to 31 October in which we examined the EU’s Middle East policy and its bias against Israel. Despite the fact that Britain has already comprehensively betrayed the Jewish nation, the Withdrawal Treaty would ensure that Britain could never fully repent and re-align our foreign policy towards Israel according to God’s purposes.
Perhaps even more alarming is the issue of military cooperation post-Brexit. Actually, ‘military cooperation’ is a misleading term, because the Withdrawal Treaty would commit us to military integration with the EU whereby the European Commission would have control of Her Majesty’s Armed Forces, as well as our Intelligence Services. I refer you to a recent statement by a retired British Army General on 20 September 2019.
Early in his statement General Riley says:
If we hand over our defence we risk losing our sovereignty and ceasing to be a country at all. The hand-over of our defence as part of the May Government’s negotiations with the EU has not been properly understood, nor been properly scrutinised, and it’s time it is…that part of the negotiations focusing on Defence effectively creates EU control over our defence and our Defence Forces in the widest sense.
He goes on to say that it includes intelligence and security and “is an integral part of the binding law of the Withdrawal Agreement under Article 184.” Clearly, if this Withdrawal Agreement is ratified by Parliament, the UK will not be a sovereign nation at all.
If this Withdrawal Agreement is ratified by Parliament, the UK will not be a sovereign nation at all.
Our National Future
What are the wider implications of this, spiritually? Our sovereignty is not something to be lightly esteemed nor quickly given away. Britain’s self-governance is not at present very godly but we have more opportunity to return to biblical principles if we are sovereign over our own political decisions than if we are yoked with the avowedly secular EU.
Secondly, I think that all of us who walk with the Lord realise that Jesus Christ will soon return, although we don’t know exactly how soon. We also know from Zechariah 12-14 that the nations of the world will come against Jerusalem and the Jewish state. This might seem hypothetical, but with the EU’s attitude to Israel, undoubtedly the EU would be part of that – if indeed the EU still exists then. The Lord says: “It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem” (Zech 12:9). If we sign a treaty that binds our armed forces to EU control, that would certainly be a possibility. Is that what we want for our nation?
References
1 The Week, 22 September 2015.
Hugh Kitson is Writer, Producer and Director of the documentary film 'Whose Land?' which examines the legitimacy of Israel and her domicile in all of Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria in International Law. His previous films include ‘The Forsaken Promise’, ‘The Destiny of Britain’ and ‘Jerusalem, The Covenant City’.