DeRossa Slams "no" Campaign

dublin | eu | press release

Wednesday February 20, 2008 16:09

by John Murray - Independent Socialist

Pronsias Gets Angry

'Big Lie' of No campaign will be exposed before Referendum vote
Issued : Wednesday 20 February, 2008
Statement by Proinsias De Rossa MEP
Vice-President, European Socialist Group

Labour MEP Proinsias De Rossa has lashed out at the No to Lisbon campaign today issuing a press release:

This treaty is not an elegant document; there are many ifs, buts and maybes, because there is no other way for a diverse family of nations to share power.

However, despite the naysayers, it responds to our citizens' demands for more democracy and a greater capacity to do those things which nation-states cannot effectively do on our own:
- Peace keeping,
- Climate change
- Regulation of migration, financial and services markets.

Indeed at this time of global instability the EU is more important than ever for small member states like Ireland.

Today's vote will again show-up the bizarre alliance of market fundamentalists, ultra-left, and, ultra-right which opposes this treaty.

They have one thing in common: an urge to confine the people's democratic reach behind their national borders.

The multimillionaires, the Murdochs in Britain, and the Ganleys in Ireland, cynically manipulate national chauvinism to prevent Europeans reaching beyond their national borders to regulate business in the interests of society.

The others, Sinn Féin and their allies on the right don't trust the citizens' ability to create, an accountable transnational democracy.

Their stock in trade is fear: fear of our neighbours, of democratic parliaments, of governments and of globalisation.

They fail to explain how more rights for citizens and more powers for parliaments can be described by them as somehow less democracy and an attack on democracy

They masquerade as internationalists, but they object to neighbours helping each other in times of crisis or attack;

They refuse to countenance binding European laws to protect us and our neighbours from climate change, and the abuse of workers rights and of the market.

The weapon of those who peddle fear is 'the big lie', eloquently demonstrated today in this debate by Ms. Mary Lou McDonald and Ms Kathy Sinnott.

Oddly they turn truth on its head to claim that the elected representatives of more than 80% of the people, are about to crush democracy, are about to deny people ever having a say again in the construction of Europe.

Before polling day in Ireland all these 'big lies' will have been shown up for what they are, simply the nightmares of parties which have learned nothing from their history, and are hell-bent on condemning the people of Europe to repeating it.

I am confident that Ireland's decision on polling day will be to keep its place at the heart of Europe.

Note: The Lisbon Treaty Report was overwhelmingly carried by the European Parliament today with 525 votes in favour, 115 votes against and 29 abstentions. Sinn Féin, UKIP, and the far right all voted against