The European Constitution (aka the Lisbon Treaty)

In a couple of weeks' time Ireland will be voting again whether or not to accept the Lisbon Treaty, which (as we all know) is the European Constitution, which was rejected by France and the Netherlands and relabelled in an attempt to fool us into believing that it is not the same thing. It is, of course, the same: there will be a President of Europe (and horror of horrors, it might be Tony Blair), additional powers for the European Commission, the European Parliament and the European Court of Justic, and the removal of a number of national vetoes. It is a further and very significant step in the transfer of our independence and sovereignty to an outside power, unwieldy, spendthrift, corrupt and largely unelected. The Irish, who sensibly voted No the first time, have been bullied into another referendum in the hope that this time they might give the "right" answer. That remains to be seen, though it seems the chances are they will vote Yes. In this country, although a large majority of us want one, we have been denied a referendum by our Labour rulers, and the position of the Conservatives is not entirely clear. In any case, it might all be done and dusted by the time they come to power next year (if, as most of us hope, that happens). So in fact it boils down to our entire future depending on Ireland. There could hardly be anything less democratic than the way our union with Europe has been foisted upon us, throughout its sorry history. It seems that there is nothing we can do but protest as loudly as we can. We have certainly never been able to vote.