Feeling The Pain

It has not been much fun working where I do in the last few years.  During the Summer of 2008 there had been a number of redundancies that had been horrible to be around, but nobody expected what was to follow in October 2008.  Of the staff in my office, about 25 of them (approx 30% of everyone) were called by name one by one over the tannoy to attend reception and one by one they were escorted off to a meeting room and informed that they had been identified as candidates for redundancy, they were to go upstairs to collect their personal belongings, turn in their laptops and phones and exit the building and they would be contacted within a few days regarding the details of the mandatory group consultation which would soon begin.

By 4pm that day the office was completely empty as we toddled off to the pub to join our fallen comrades.  I lost 4 colleagues and my manager from a team of 8 to redundancy in an afternoon.  (One colleague was lucky enough to be retained after a month of consultation, but alas was latterly let go in a later round of redundancies; just one month before his wife gave birth to their first baby.)

In February 2009 we were informed that there would be a temporary, but mandatory 10% pay reduction extending a six week period but applied to all employees worldwide.  The reasoning being that the company was forecasting that it would miss it primary targets, and though that meant it would remain profitable, it also meant that the banks that own my company through various credit agreements would exercise penalty clauses which would in turn mean there was no way we would hit the Q2 number, which would have lead to another fine which in turn meant we would never hit the Q3 number... you get the picture.  The board foresaw that if we missed the Q1 2009 number we might have a terrible year and they were clear that the company my not recover, or may have to drastically downsize further.  We took our medicine, and it was a bitter pill to swallow.  In the UK because we are salaried and receive a monthly payment it actually meant the whole reduction was applied to one months payment, so was 15% lighter than the one before and there were no promises it would be the last.  Being a newly wed of a one income house, it was not easy to endure.

Between April and August further redundancies were made but at a slower rate.

As a result of the staff sacrifice and downsizing we made that Q1 number and every subsequent target in 2009 and finished the year in profit.  Despite a drastic reduction in staff worldwide with no reduction in customer requirements nor overall workload we managed to find new ways to pick up the excess work and new ways of working.  Many of us spent much of last year arriving early and leaving late to do what we could to help.  One of my 4 colleagues that lost their job in October 2008 only managed their first day of work in a new job three weeks ago in March 2010, having not even managing to find temp work in the meantime.  This is not just my story, it is a shared experience of my friends and colleagues, and former colleagues. It is an experience that will not sound too unfamiliar with millions like me who are or were in the private sector in the past two years.  It has been horrible to endure, but despite the brutality we are in no doubt that if the company I work for had not of restructured it would not be in business today and instead of a third of us being out of work, all of us would have been.  We would not be taking on new heads today and looking at introducing new technologies and exploring new markets.

That is an unfortunate reality, and the private sector has felt the pain and companies that were not in a healthy position had to shape up or shut down.  We would all take back a Woolworth's or a Thresher's having watched them disappear, but we would have bemoaned the kinds of redundancies my company went through if they had of been announced in an effort to save those brands.

I understand the pain of redundancy, and the fear that I may soon face it - a fear that is still with me.  But, as a tax payer, I really cannot endorse the Government's inaction in not shrinking the size of the state, in fact I am angry that in the meantime, whilst the productive sector of this country, the bit that creates wealth and jobs and pays a hefty chunk of tax to the Exchequer the size and burden has increased to satisfy the political fetishes of Gordon Brown and Peter Mandelson.  The whole time the state is growing unsustainable, not only is the tax burden rising today to meet the wages and expenses of these workers, but also is the debt that must be repaid on the extra borrowing that is being extended.  Late in 2009 it looked like we would be spending more in debt payment in 2010 than we would be spending for all Armed Forces expenditure.  If we do not reverse this, now; I wouldn't mind betting that we will spend as much on debt as we will on the NHS which in a single year will far exceed £70bn.

Public Sector workers losing their jobs is inevitable, let us not stall and increase the overall cost at the expense of the economic recovery.  Where as my former colleagues could look to between 2 and 4 weeks salary to cushion the blow of losing their jobs, some junior and middle public sector roles are cushioned by 2 or 3 YEARS of redundancy payment.  My guess is that many of them are hoping for the call to come through.  It is a time-bomb waiting to explode, the people on these contracts cannot be supported on borrowed money forever, but we pay extra for not cutting now.

If there are two things I have gathered from my recent conversations with people from all ages and varied occupational backgrounds is that people want a BIG cut in the size of the state.  Secondly, people are angry at Gordon Brown and Labour for setting this whole situation up whereby we face the choice of a decade of heavy debt payments versus two decades of heavy debt repayments all mortgaged for no tangible benefits to the vast majority of people who live here, work here and pay tax here.  In more candid conversations the notion has been expressed to me more than once that we should affix to Gordon Brown a charge of criminality for his execution of the public purse.  A very popular notion that never fails to spontaneously invite participants to speculate upon suitable punishments for his crimes upon us.

Now imagine this is the lead story tomorrow morning:

Good morning. Here is the news. Because of the budget deficit, shrinking economy and untenable level of national debt, all public service salaries will be cut by an average of 13.5 per cent, with immediate effect. The charges will appear on your payslip as “government levy”, and will apply to frontline public workers in health, education, transport and local services and also to MPs, Ministers of State and the Attorney-General.

Judges will be, for the moment, exempt, but a mechanism is in place for voluntary payment of this levy. So far 72 judges have paid up. No undertaking can be given about when, or if, take-home pay will return to former levels. The severity of this measure reflects the good levels of public pay, security and pension rights compared with the private sector. Government regrets the pain this will cause, but regards it as essential. Thank you.

Source.

You don't have to imagine if you are from Ireland as this is what happened some months ago, as Libby Purves has set out tonight.  It is the remarkable but largely unreported story from across the way.  The Irish are showing us Brits the way forward.  Could you imagine if Gordon Brown sent around a communication announcing that everybody suckling from the public bosom must endure a 13.5% cut in pay - it seems pretty unimaginable, but the money has just about run out and it will not be long before the public sector stop getting paid on pay day.  Despite Ireland making the cuts, the hospitals and schools are still open, society did not collapse the sky did not fall.

It is exactly what we need here in the UK, and by not taking the lead on the matter Labour will not only leave office with the public finances in a state, they will have left the Unions well funded, highly connected and in prime position to disrupt any Conservative Government attempts to do what is needed.   Labour's first 8 years in power were funded because of the excellent state of the economy inherited from the Conservatives, but they not only drained the coffers, they drained the pension pot and indebted us for a generation.  This is their way of thanking you for electing them, and they would argue that it is what you wanted them to do.  The conservatives will be a spent force before the economy has recovered - this is not how things are supposed to be in a "free society" and it is not the background setting to a truly fair society.  

Labour, somehow, some way, must be made to pay a price for their criminal economic mismanagement.

 

Rainbow

I am just clearing the memory card on our camera when I stumbled upon this which my wife took when we were driving through Ireland last year. I don't think I have ever seen a rainbow appear so close, both to us and to seeing an end arrive to the ground.

Danish Legal Challenge To Lisbon

From TEAM EUROPE Blog:

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Copenhagen, 28th of September 2009


To the People of Ireland,

Many media claim that in a very short while the Lisbon Treaty will be ratified by all the EU member states – as if this ratification process was simple and unproblematic. But Poland, The Czech Republic and Germany have not yet finished their ratification. This is mainly due to law suits, documenting the profound consequences that accession to the Treaty will have for the member countries.

We, a group of citizens who have brought an action against the Danish Government, charging it with breaking the Danish Constitution, take the liberty to draw the attention of the Irish People to these pending law suits and to the serious political effects of the Lisbon Treaty that they demonstrate. The Treaty confers almost unlimited powers on the EU, thus undermining the Constitutions and the living Democracy in the member countries. It threatens the possibility of the peoples of Europe to have a decisive influence on their own societies and living conditions.

In the pending case we demonstrate that leading Danish politicians in agreement with European Heads of Government have committed an offence against the Danish Constitution. First and foremost they have hidden or explained away the real content of the Lisbon Treaty which is of so radical a character that the Treaty, according to the Danish Constitution, can only be ratified if it is approved in a referendum. This law suit is part of our fight for Democracy.

In Denmark, unfortunately, a law suit does not imply that the ratification is postponed until the Supreme Court has pronounced its judgement. In Germany however the recent judgement of the Constitutional Court means that the Treaty can not be finally ratified unless German laws are passed that will guard German Democracy. This is remarkable and clearly shows that Democracy is undermined if no clear limits are fixed to the extension of the powers of the EU. And already new cases have been brought before the German Constitutional Court, this time questioning whether the new hastily adapted laws give the required guarantees for German Democracy. The final German ratification of the Lisbon Treaty therefore is not yet certain.

A majority of you voted no to the Lisbon Treaty, and consequently the correct procedure would have been to abandon it. But this did not happen, and since then nothing has been altered in the Treaty. It is both undemocratic and inconsistent with the rules of the EU itself that you now have to vote about the same Treaty again – a scandalous way of forcing through a Treaty that the majority of European citizens are against.

It is disquieting that we in Europe have come to a point where Heads of State and Governments decide to carry out so extensive changes ignoring not only the political and legal rules of the EU but even the Constitutions and democratic practices of the individual member states.

We are worried about Democracy at both the National and the European level, and we ask the People of Ireland to bear this in mind when you vote on the 2nd of October.

On behalf of The Plaintiffs in the law suit against the Danish Government,

Helge Rørtoft-Madsen

phone number 0045-55980644 and 0045-26825562

roertoft (at) hotmail.com

School Budget Problems

A reader (Robertr123) emailed me this morning with a link to an article which places Irish school pupils on par with British soldiers on tours of duty.

So it seems Ireland is so poor now that pupils in Cork now need to bring their own toilet roll to school.  The poor picked-on kid in the corner will not only be going hungry when the school bully nicks his lunch, he is also going to have to develop an iron clad anal sphincter.  (Perhaps the absence of lunch will offer a cruel irony.)

Seems Ireland is all over the news again.

Criminal Complaints Made In Ireland Over LT2 Vote

Team Europe is saying that a criminal complaint has been lodged in Ireland against the returning officers, Jose Barroso, The European Commission, Brian Cowen and other subsequent persons involved in the Lisbon Treaty campaign.

I reproduce their content from Alan Keenan below:

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The facts outlined below will prove that the Lisbon Treaty Referendum of 2/10/09 is Null and Void under Irish and European law. I present two separate points that shall subsequently be proven:

I. The Irish Government, alongside the European Commission ran a fraudulent and illegal campaign for the Lisbon Treaty Referendum.

II. Numerous violations of Irish Referendum law and discrepancies that call into question the security and validity of the votes themselves, default the Irish vote to the result of the last Referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.

1) The intervention of the European Commission, entailing massive expenditure of money to influence Irish opinion towards a Yes, the running of a web-site and the issuing of statements that sought to counter No-side arguments, and the advocacy of a Yes vote by Commission President Barroso and other Commissioners and their staffs during visits to Ireland. This is unlawful under European law, as the Commission has no function in relation to the ratification of new Treaties, something that is exclusively a matter for the Member States under their own constitutional procedures;

2) The part funding of the posters and press advertising of most of Ireland’s Yes-side political parties by their sister parties in the European Parliament, even though it is illegal under Irish law to receive donations from sources outside the country in a referendum and even though, under European law, money provided by the European Parliament to cross-national political parties is supposed to be confined to informational-type material and to avoid partisan advocacy;

3) The Irish Government’s unlawful use of public funds in circulating to voters a postcard with details of the so-called “assurances” of the European Council, followed by a brochure some time later containing a tendentious summary of the provisions of the Lisbon Treaty, as well as other material - steps that were in breach of the 1995 Irish Supreme Court judgment in McKenna that it is unconstitutional of the Government to use public funds to seek to obtain a particular result in a referendum;

4) The failure of the country’s statutory Referendum Commission to carry out its function under the Referendum Act that established it of explaining to citizens how the proposed constitutional amendment and its text would affect the Irish Constitution. Instead the Commission’s Chairman, Judge Frank Clarke, turned the Commission into an arm of Government propaganda, while the judge indulged himself in various “solo-runs” on radio and in the newspapers, giving several erroneous explanations of provisions of the Lisbon Treaty, even though this was quite beyond his powers under the Act;

5) Huge expenditure of money by private companies such as Intel and Ryanair to advocate a Yes vote, without any statutory limit, in possible breach of Irish company and tax law, and undoubtedly constituting a major democratic abuse.

6) Breaches by the Irish broadcast media of their obligation under the Broadcasting Acts to be fair to all interests concerned in their coverage of issues of public controversy and debate. Newstalk 106, owned by Mr Denis O’Brien, a committed supporter of the Yes side, was quite shameless in its partisanship on its current affairs programmes.

II.

Under Irish law, ballot boxes are required to be delivered by members of the Gardai to the polling stations at 7:00 am on the date the election takes place.

This legal requirement applies to ALL polling in Ireland, whether elections or referendums.

On this occasion, however, the ballot boxes were delivered to the private residences of the polling/Returning Officers, 48 hours prior to the Referendum.


A number of honest Returning Officers formally objected to this BREACH OF PROCEDURE, and to the concomitant prospective breach of security, let alone of the electoral legislation.

We understand that such objections were officially dismissed out of hand on the spurious and diversionary grounds that the ballot boxes possessed no commercial value, so it would be in nobody’s commercial interest to steal them.

The central issue – that since the Irish ballot boxes were delivered 48 hours early they could be ‘stuffed’ with YES votes by returning officers, as routinely happens in places like the former Soviet Republic of Georgia – was of course not addressed.

The Irish voters were given pencils to make their mark on the ballot, even though all Irish electoral ballots are supposed to be filled with black pen.

Almost nobody was asked for any form of ID or information at the polling stations.


The ballot boxes were left unattended and moved about by many people without question.


At least one box in Cork was removed from the count centre by an unknown individual as shown in the attached picture and video link.

Many foreign nationals and others who were not legally entitled to vote voted in this Referendum. Irish Times article “Gardai to investigate suspected vote fraud”, shows seven voters registered to an empty house.

It follows that, given that the local electoral law was flouted, THE OUTCOME OF THE IRISH REFERENDUM IS FRAUDULENT AND MUST IMMEDIATELY BE DECLARED NULL AND VOID.




--
The post also links to a petition which has been signed by nearly 1,000 people already. If you believe that there are question marks over the conduct of the Irish referendum, and if you agree with some or all of the above then please take one minute to sign THIS PETITION. If you support Lisbon, you should also sign this petition. The Irish vote is the only one which will involve popular consultation, if ratification and implementation across Europe is based on a the tarnished reputation of the Irish vote, Lisbon will never, ever have any legitimacy. All sides need to know if this was a fair and honest vote.

More Questions On Lisbon

Once again with a hat tip to Scunnert...

Was There Fraud In The Referendum Count?

I am not sure if there was fraud, but Scunnert has put up these videos that may cast a doubt over the controls in place.






As the Tap Blog has already covered, but the police were very keen to ensure that monitors not be allowed to count the number of people turning up to vote.  So what checks were in place to ensure this would be a fair vote?

It smells a little fishy.

An Open Letter To The People Of Ireland

I wish there were some magic words or some great prose I could muster or recite but we are all sick and tired of the arguments and fear mongering, you will certainly be even more so than me. You, the good people of Ireland voted right the first time, it is such a shame that decision could not be respected. You voted right because you voted how you felt and in good conscience.

Yes, I am clearly in favour of a NO vote tomorrow, and though the polls say I am in for a grand disappointment I have not lost faith that Ireland will vote NO again. I am not going to list all the reasons why I think this, again, except this one reason. Tomorrow you vote on exactly the same Constitutional Treaty that you have already rejected. Not one sentence, word or comma will have changed. This is almost certainly the very last treaty Ireland can vote for as this one hands all the marbles to the likes of Barroso and Blair, and they can do what they like after this one and Ireland will be in the same boat as all the rest of us – with no say at all.

If your concerns are immigration then a YES vote takes more control from The Oireachtas and Irish courts and hand it over to Brussels, you have seen in the last year the EU already can VETO your own courts. If your concerns are religious and perhaps even about abortion, then Bruno brings news from the Vatican that you may wish to read. If it is economic then I would say that as you (Ireland) are America’s truest best friend in the World there is no way they would see economic damage done to you, and also that your successes have been from decisions on tax and employment taken much closer to home and that should be protected, not handed away.

It must not be very nice being dictated to from Europe in one ear, and pleaded to from English, Scottish and Welsh voices in the other. I would say I do not envy your position, but I do, I wish I had the opportunity to vote on this so I could register my opinion and exercise my democratic will. But I don’t and I can’t. You might not like that the hopes of so many hinge on your votes tomorrow but they do. The biggest problem with the EU is that the bigger and more powerful it gets, the smaller the pool of decision makers becomes. We the people in our respective countries on the street and in the pub become less and less influential and have less say the more and more our national governments and the EU take powers away from us.  There is an ocean of millions of people who's opinions and decisions are ignored, we look to you, again, tomorrow.

So, please, do what is right and proper and vote with your conscience and exercise that precious right that you have; and that you have secured for yourselves by protecting your rights in your Constitution. If you truly believe that Lisbon is right for Ireland and for Europe then you should vote YES. [But I, not so secretly hope your cars breakdown, chains fall of bikes and that a torrential rain follows you every time you step outside.]

For those of you who are looking to vote NO, please do so, and for all the same and right reasons. Please also remember to make sure all of your friends and family who are voting the same way make it to polling. [To you I hope your cars are in excellent working order, and that the sun shines and the birds sing for you all day.]

For those of you who are undecided, please, please keep reading and listening to all the papers to the TV, to your friends and families. It does matter which way you vote, but it is always better to have elections decided by the biggest possible turnout. If you do not, you may look back and regret not being involved and having your say when you had the chance to, and tomorrow is that chance.

Now, back to being partial.

Ireland, please vote NO!

Eire - Reasons To Vote No

Shamelessly lifted from Subrosa.

Ireland Beginning To Look Set To Vote No

I have never believed the people of Ireland were about to drastically reverse their positions in such a short time on Lisbon, and having spent some time in Ireland last year I got a sense that voters in Ireland feel very removed from politicians and from politics, though not apathetic towards political subjects and discussion. Discussion on Lisbon was not dismissed, and was widely in-depth and considered. This was never appreciated by the EU who seemed to openly assume Ireland could not have understood the treaty, that's the only reason they could fathom for its rejection.

So I am excited tonight to see that England Expects has said that word has reached him that a Gael Poll with a sample of 1,500 shows a massive surge in support for the NO camp, with a potential 59%/41% split in favour of rejection.

I hope I am not putting the cart before the horse but this is potentially positive news and comes much earlier than the last minute swing that occurred for the first referendum. It would make the Czech, German and Polish ratifications moot, and throw the EU in chaos. So assured were they of their project, that huge swathes of Lisbon has already been implemented prior to acceptance.

Things could be about to get very interesting.

Update: Slugger O'Toole says the same HERE.

Update 2 22-Sep-09 12:08:: UK Polling Report says the Poll should not be taken seriously HERE.

Daniel Hannan's Message To The People Of Ireland

Please add to your blog or social network.




If you want to see Daniel in Westminster, please sign and spread the word of this petition.

Ireland - Please Say No To Lisbon, (Erm, Again)

Get Widget

Ireland, it's your vote and your choice (again), this blogger was very happy that you made the right decision last time and I hope you will do so again.

It is my hope that you say "no", and then upon a change of Government here in the UK we can help kill Lisbon and set the EU into a different direction, whereby at the very least we can all control our seperate destiny's and keep control of the matters that we care most deeply about. 

h/t for the widget - VOTR

Lisbon Revisited

Not long after when this Labour Government screwed us on a referendum, which was also when newly anointed Liberal Leader Nick Clegg followed suit and did the dirty on those who voted for them as well - The Lisbon Constitutional Treaty, was sent to the Lords. Unlike MP's, some Peers actually read it, and they produced a report on it's changes and implications.

Usefully they produced the below detailing what competencies would sit where in a post Lisbon world... They have been a little kind to the EU on a couple of scores, but never the less it is a useful visual guide and worth revisiting as Ireland's second referendum draws ever closer.

Ireland And The Second Referendum

The fate of Europe, and the direction of the EU rests in the hands of the people of Ireland, again.

It has been confirmed that a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty will be held in Ireland in October, probably on October 2nd. The second referendum has come about because of the no vote registered by voters in Ireland last year, which has held the whole treaty up.

It is not the first time that Ireland has been asked to vote again after registering the “wrong decision” and it is a disgusting trend that the people of Europe have again registered via the ballot box disapproval for the direction of the EU for that vote to be ignored and later overturned.

The Taoiseach (Brian Cowen) has said that he has won key legal guarantees from Brussels in areas of taxation, neutrality and ethical issues and that these guarantees will be entered as an amendment to the Lisbon treaty post ratification.

But the fact of the matter is that the Lisbon Treaty will not change one bit, not by one word and the Irish will again be told to vote on text that they have rejected. The Treaty cannot be amended without the possibility of legal challenges in those countries that have ratified the Treaty already. The Treaty is a rehash of the earlier European Constitution, which was killed by the voters of France & the Netherlands.

In the presence of concerns from Irish voters, assurances will be given, but they will not carry any real weight because of the refusal to amend the actual Treaty to include such concerns. If Irish concerns were to be correctly addressed, the Treaty would surely have been amended to include these.

I am from the UK, but I spent much time in Ireland last year (preparing for and then getting married there) and followed the original Irish referendum. I hope to through English eyes talk to the concerns that I heard raised in Ireland.

Firstly there is a concern about the Legal Personality granted to the EU. The present relationship is still viewed in Ireland largely as one of co-operation between nations rather than of the EU being a supreme government; but that will change post-Lisbon. Ireland fought long and hard for independence from Britain and there are many that question the wisdom of handing principle control of Ireland to Brussels.

These concerns are increased when we look at Article 9 whereby the European Council changes from an inter-governmental body to that of an EU institution without a direct link to the people of Europe and without any electoral mandate, control or accountability. Article 9 also removes a member states automatic right to have an EU Commissioner and deliberately sets out that the Commission shall be independent from the electorate and from interference from National Governments. It re-asserts the Commission as the Executive Function of the Union and sole competence over has what is termed “Power of Initiative”.

“The Commission shall neither seek nor take instruction from any government or other institution, body, office or entity”

Previously when people have pointed to the gapping democratic deficit in the EU model, pro-EU arguments have centred on National Governments control over appointment of EU Commissioners. This is a poor rebuttal, but even that slim thread of Democratic semblance is to be lost under Lisbon. The EU executive cannot be thrown out by any voters, and as such does not listen to it’s voices, but instead listens to central banks, lobbyists and think-tanks. With reduced participation from member states in this body, the Democratic Deficit grows, and I would surmise to too will voter disenfranchisement with the EU.

Article 48 of Lisbon gives the EU in a post-Lisbon world the powers necessary to amend its own treaties and articles without recourse or accountability to national governments or electorates and without the need for new Treaties. As such, this is the blank cheque that the EU wants for it means that despite any arguments and despite any assurances the EU has power to make laws in any area it sees fit to do so. The EU will in future not require national ratifications to assume control in any area or to legislate however it sees fit to do so. In handing this control to Brussels, the assurances received by the Taoiseach are worthless, because the EU can from now on do what it likes, and can legislate in any way it wants and the Irish Constitution which has required Referenda until now is superseded. That includes tax law and that included legislating on ethical issues, such as Abortion.

UK Red Lines were also secured, these were created so as to give the appearance that the UK Government was safe-guarding UK interests and self-governance. This is of course a myth, a smoke-screen which has served its purpose and is no longer even alluded to.

Michael Connarty MP said on behalf of the EU Scrutiny committee during the UK analysis,

"We believe that the red lines will not be sustainable. Looking at the legalities and use of the European Court of Justice, we believe these will be challenged bit by bit and eventually the UK will be in a position where all of the treaty will eventually apply to the UK. If they can't get these things firmed up, we think they will leak like a sieve."

This is not just hearsay, this is what has happened with every assurance, rebate and red-line that has ever been put into place between the UK and the EU; the ones that are in place still are being challenged bit by bit, disregarded, ignored or in the case of the Working Time Directive, new EU legislation forcing a universal maximum working week is being rail-roaded despite previous assurances to the contrary. This is being done with the explicit and enthusiastic support of Labour MEPs.

See also what the reaction was to the EU flag and anthem, removed from the EU Constitution so as to allow an argument that this treaty was different and “not constitutional” – these have already been through a separate initiative brought into legitimacy via the EU.

The EU always gets what it desires.

EU powers are increased and formally the EU takes control of a number of competencies associated with national governments some of which have not been openly debated. Common policy (i.e. internal EU policy), foreign policy (i.e. external to EU), Security policies, harmonisation of criminal law, extension of the powers to the EU Public Prosecutor, Defence policy, extension to existing trade policies, justice and economic policies.

These powers are surrendered forever, with the only possible recourse to leave the EU altogether to re-establish self-determination. Such action is dramatic and extreme, but is the ultimate consequence following on from decades of prescribed direction and legislation from the EU enthusiasts. Expect sanctions and disincentives to be threatened against those who oppose the EU, for they are its enemy and dissenting arguments are absolutely not allowed. The club has become a bourgeois aristocracy built upon an uneasy cooperation between the corporatist and a broad Socialist extreme. Forget past allegiances, once you become servile to the EU, it is your only master.

The European Council (where nationally appointed Government members meet, such as foreign secretaries on Foreign policy..) will move from a requirement of Unanimity to QMV (Qualified Majority Voting). This is likely to result in the bigger nations being able to asset more control on Council Meetings and initiatives, as the bigger nations control more of the EU budget. Certainly the influence and concerns of a single nation with presence at the council can now be simply disregarded. I am told that the result for Ireland is a net reduction in influence on this particular body perhaps as much as halving their voting influence via the complicated QMV system, but there is a similar loss across the smaller or less influential nations and an increase in the control available to the big 3 nations, UK, Germany & France.

In short the aim had been of the EU Council to find international consensus, this will be replaced under Lisbon with the Council being a function of the EU, not a place for national politicians and leaders to meet. The pursuit of consensus will be replaced with the pursuit of majority consent.

The Treaty on a whole has been drawn up by and serves only those who favour a Federal Europe and strong-arms opponents with the threat of economic loss for non-cooperation (which is debateable, but admittedly more risky in the credit-crunch world). A corporatist bint is held up and falsely presented as pursuing capitalistic aims, as too are social and green issues the smokescreen for pursuit of personal comforts and equality.

Like the rest of Europe the people of Ireland are concerned about the economy. Initially the EU has brought much economic success and business have taken advantage of Ireland being a relatively low cost place to set up their business in the only other English speaking country in the EU. However, the cost of business is going up, and real costs in Ireland have increased. It was noticeable to me on our earlier trips to Ireland in 2007 that day-to-day things were slightly, but noticeably more expensive to the UK. I am not talking about Dublin which like most capital cities is more expensive that the rest of the country. The cost of visiting Ireland increased all through 2008 as the £ tanked against the €.

But having had the opportunity to speak to people in Ireland they are weighing up the EU benefits and those benefits obtained by national initiative. For example, the low rate of corporation tax versus the UK had provided the opportunity for UK based companies to open offices across the water and move their head offices and principle accounting to Ireland rather than the UK. There was an initiative from within the EU to harmonise Corporation Tax across the EU, the cost to Ireland of such EU legislation could sent their economy backwards.

The no-votes of the French and the Dutch have been ignored, and instead of looking to increase democratic controls and accountability, these are eroded further under Lisbon. The influence of the enthusiastic bloc of large nations on just about any issue will outweigh and overrule national governments and the wishes of any (or even all) of the EU electorate. You don’t need to read too much history to know that every single time such power has been centralised and accumulated by such a central source it is always used to bring misery to those who oppose the direction of that body. Voters are consistently denied a voice, and when, on those few opportunities some voters have been consulted (when it was thought that they would vote in favour for the EU, or where there has been no choice) these votes have been ignored.

As I said above, there is nothing the EU can offer the people of Ireland in a way of protecting concerns over Tax and over ethical issues such as abortion. It is impossible in Europe today to make any assurance or document that challenges the authority of the EU – for it is already supreme, but is greedy for more. As it is supreme, it is free to overturn any assurance it grants, as it has when assurances have been granted in the past. For what it is worth, I do not trust the word of the EU on any issue and any assurances will surely be ignored at a later date. The people of Ireland got the vote that the people of the UK and many other EU countries were denied. They, in the infinite wisdom of an electorate made the right decision by voting no before, and as nothing has changed I hope they vote the same way again.

It is my hope that we in Europe can move away from this 18th Century notion of unifying Europe under one system of governance, and make everything the same. It cannot be done without the implementation of tyrannical instruments and at the cost of misery and usually the loss of many lives. But if you do believe it is possible to find a way to bring about a Union in Europe, the EU in its present form is not the answer, and can never be the answer. There is nothing in Lisbon that changes that for the better, only provisions to the detriment of democratic accountability.

Much like before the first referendum, the assumption was that the people of Ireland would vote yes, but I am not convinced. Real people when presented with the facts have the capacity to consider wider issues and the future. Ireland was right last time, and with nothing new or different to vote on this time will, I believe, vote the same way again.