Madam, – Having read the Lisbon Treaty cover to cover and followed the story of it from its inception, I understood it would not be passed unless it was unanimous, that is, “every” country voted in favour of it. I also understood that, in the event of one or more countries rejecting it, the EU would scrap the treaty and continue as is. I double-checked the treaty to discover what sanctions would apply to any member-state that voted against it and could find none. There was no penalty clause for not supporting the treaty.
Amazing then that the vested interests supporting it are attempting to scare and bully us into voting for it. They are “suggesting” unspecified penalties, hinting darkly at some sort of EU revenge against us, and insinuating that we will pay dearly if we do not do what we are told. Of course, these are the same voices that told us the boom would never end, and for them, it hasn’t.
The treaty is a complicated piece of work, but it can be simplified greatly by understanding the bottom line. We joined a European Economic Community and we are still firmly in it. The Lisbon Treaty is attempting to make that a “political community” with all that that will mean. We rejected being a small cog in a large political wheel the last time, but those of us who did vote No were happy for the economic co-operation to remain the same, and it will whether we vote Yes or No.
Were any action taken against the Irish for exercising their democratic rights, every citizen in every other European country might suddenly realise that they could be next and then the great European experiment would quickly unravel. The unelected representatives in overpaid jobs for life in the EU are not going to let that happen to them. – Yours, etc,