The Republic of Ireland will hold a referendum on the EU not-a-constitution thanks to the provisions of their constitution.
Denmark was expected to hold a referendum when it was reported that a majority of Danish MPs wanted one but this appears to have fallen by the wayside.
Enter Alex Salmond:
When the constitutional treaty was alive, the Labour Party promised a referendum before the General Election of 2005. While there are some differences between the constitutional treaty and the reform treaty, in substance they are almost identical.
Scotland will be holding its own referendum on the EU not-a-constitution. It won’t be binding on the British government but it will be an opportunity for 10% of the population to make their views known and a blow to the One Eyed Wonder of Wankistan who is determined not to allow the mostly eurosceptic electorate throw the constitution out of the window.
Technorati Tags: EU Constitution, Federal Europe, Scotland
It appears that Sinn Fein will be the only big party opposing the Lisbon treaty… Will this change?
UKIP are sending people to Ireland to support the “no” campaign there, as are a few of the other Ind-Dem parties. I think, sadly, that the Irish are too reliant on EU handouts to say no. Belgium now has a government formed urgently and temporarily so that they can sign the constitution so they’re not going to hold it up.
You have to look at it from a class perspective – for Ireland’s large middle class of affluent workers the EU is viewed as being a good thing, the aid and the foreign direct investment feeding the Celtic Tiger.
For less affluent workers, who face greater competition in the job market because of the free movement of labour within the EU, there might be a good reason to kick against further EU integration as a protest against being left out of the boom.
Irish PM Bertie Ahern called the election this year to avoid facing corruption inquiries – this and the fact the Irish economy is moving towards bust (housing market collapse and the knock-on effect of job losses in construction) make a narrow defeat for the Euro-federalists possible.
From what I have heard, there are concerns that a greater number of people are uncertain of how to vote – so there’s all to play for, I reckon, so it’s good there will be support for the “no” campaign.
Anyhow. Have a happy Christmas, Wonko.
Ireland will be losing a lot of the handouts to the poorer new entrants to Federal Europe but I doubt that the eurosceptics will be able to get the Irish people to understand this in significant enough quantities to vote against the not-a-constitution.
Merry Christmas to you too Charlie.
Spanish:
Please say NO to that “secret”, undemocratic Treaty!!!
In the name of all of us who can not be heard.
Save Europe from wild neo-liberalism.
http://elproyectomatriz.wordpress.com/2008/03/10/tratado-de-lisboa-europeos-amordazados-i/
http://elproyectomatriz.wordpress.com/2008/03/17/tratado-de-lisboa-europeos-amordazados-ii/
http://elproyectomatriz.wordpress.com/2008/02/26/%c2%bfconstitucion-europea-la-gran-mentira-europea/
why did the french and dutch get a vote on the last one but not on this one?
Because they’ll say no, Axel.
were they, the politicos, dumb enough to think they would have said yes the first time?
no, there must be a reason and legal one at that as to why they got a vote on one attempt at it but not on the second attempt, or is this the reason it is not a ‘constitution’ but a ‘something else’?
Ah, I see what you mean. Yes, the way they’ve got around it is the constitution replaced existing treaties with its illiberal filth whereas the not-a-constitution amends existing treaties to bring in the same illiberal filth.