Anti European Union Campaign

Latest Irish poll shows EU treaty heading for defeat

by HONOR MAHONY - Irish Times

The latest poll in Ireland has revealed a shock swing to the "no" side ahead of next week's vote on the EU's Lisbon treaty.

Carried out for the Irish Times, the TNS/mrbi poll shows that those saying they intend to vote "no" has almost doubled to 35 percent (up 17 points) since their last survey three weeks ago.

The "yes" side has seen a drop of five points to 30 percent, while those undecided clock in at 28 percent (down 12 points) and seven percent do not intend to vote.

According to a detailed break down by the Irish Times of the 1,000-strong survey, the reason most often cited for voting "no" - 30 percent - is that voters say they do not know what is in the treaty or they do not understand the treaty. Only five percent cited domestic reasons for voting "no."

Those planning to vote "yes" said they would do so to keep Ireland closely involved in the EU. "Yes" supporters also said they wanted to enable the bloc to work more effectively.

The poll revealed a clear socio-economic divide, with a majority of better-off voters intending to vote "yes," and a majority among the working class planning a "no" vote. Meanwhile, older voters tended to be more positive towards the treaty, but there was only a majority of "yes" supporters among the over-50s.

The survey's result comes despite the fact that Ireland's main political parties all support the treaty, and shows there will have to be a large swing before the 12 June vote if it is to result in a "yes."

Ireland is the only one of the 27 member states to hold a referendum on the EU treaty and is facing enormous pressure to secure a "yes" vote, with a rejection likely to scupper the ratification process in the rest of the bloc.

But Dublin has had a hard time trying to sell the treaty, as it has struggled to find a headline reason for voting for the charter that the ordinary voter perceives as directly affecting them.

In addition, senior politicians, including prime minister Brian Cowen, have admitted to not reading the entire document, while deputy prime minister Mary Coughlan when questioned gave an inaccurate answer on the future number of EU commissioners foreseen under the treaty.

On top of this, a government book explaining the treaty differs in important ways to a summary of the pact produced by the referendum commission, an independent body that manages referendums in Ireland.

Instead of focussing on the detail, the government has relied on appealing to Irish citizens' generally pro-European stance, with warnings about "disasters" if the country votes "no."

The "no" side has concentrated on single issues, saying the treaty will mean Ireland loses it powers over taxes and abortion while its traditional neutrality will be undermined – all of which the government has categorically denied.

Most of Europe will be focussed on Ireland when voters go to the polls next Thursday. Some, however, are already planning for a possible "no" vote.

According to reports, the Czech Republic, which takes over the EU presidency on 1 January as the EU treaty is supposed to come into force, has prepared two papers how the EU should work in the first half of 2009 - one with the EU treaty in place and one without.

Most Information supplied by the Bruges Group www.brugesgroup.com

The European Union is planning to expand its interference over the railways with dire consequences for passengers.

The EU is proposing that railway routes that are used for passenger and freight transportation will come under the control of the European Commission. It is proposed that on those lines priority will be given to freight trains over passenger services. It is estimated that this will lead to a 10% increase in journey times for passengers.

The European Commission is also proposing that railway networks should also give priority to trains carrying international freight over those transporting domestic goods. This will damage economic activity within the UK.

The EU is also planning to control the rail market and train policies.

The European Union is proposing to take control over road safety, infrastructure and even signage.
The EU plans to subordinate local authorities to its management plans, forcing them to follow the EU’s procedures.

Yes, they believe that the intelligent, working human beings who support their illegal activities through compulsary taxation do not have a say in who is given power to govern their own country but lo, we are to be consulted about placing "alien" fish into the wrong locations.

The present practice of introducing new fish into certain lakes to (i) spread their numbers and (ii) make it more interesting for anglers, is being brought into question and obviously as it such an uninteresting subject, the EU cannot be bothered to address it and therefore will let us have a say for once !!

Or perhaps, worms (the slimey variety found in Brussels) find it a distressing subject to chew over ??

Meanwhile, Spannish trawlers continue to defy laws and scrape clean the few fish stocks that lie in Scottish waters and that Scottish fishermen are not allowed to catch.

Sound fishy to you too ??? I can already imagine the tenchion when they debate this one !!!

 

        Without any mention of NATO the European Commission is seeking to expand its influence over defence.
 The European Commission is seeking to standardise the health market across the EU.
 Draft Framework Decision amending Framework Decision 2002/475/JHA on combating terrorism COM(07) 650 and Draft Framework Decision on the use of Passenger Name Record (PNR) for law enforcement purposesAmended Draft Directive on criminal measures aimed at ensuring the enforcement of intellectual property rights COM(06) 168
 From 9th January 2008 to 30th April the EU has passed 402 laws which will impact on the UK.
Since May 2007 the total is that is ONE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED AND SIXTEEN!


Examples of the laws recently introduced are below: