How the Irish have helped David Cameron

David Davis may not have done David Cameron much of a favour yesterday but, if I've understood correctly, today the Irish have.

The Tories have been stuck with a pretty serious problem over Europe. What should they promise to do about the provisions of the Lisbon treaty? If by the time they got into power the treaty had been ratified everywhere, they would have had an ugly choice between promising to do nothing about the treaty they said was crucial or seeking to renegotiate a fully enacted treaty.

Renegotiations would have been no minor matter because Lisbon consolidates all the other treaties.

Now, if I'm right, they have received a big piece of luck. They can fight the election promising to oppose a treaty not yet enforced. Indeed a treaty they could argue may never be enforced

The fundamental difficulty of actually being in office with a Eurosceptic programme remains. But the Irish have made fighting the Euro elections (certainly) and the general election (probably) a whole lot easier.

Comments

[Paul]

You silly silly man!
Your paymaster has an even bigger problem now.
He has his lapdog stand against David Davis (supporting Gordon on the 42 days) but now has to attack Gordon for supporting the Lisbon Treaty in the face of the Irish vote.
Gosh which way will you fall?
I suspect you will have to wait for instructions.

[beaude, Lyon, France]

Ireland cannot remain as a central player in Europe. This no vote is quitely crazy but it's a matter of thinking fo all the leaders in Brussels now because voting changes to reflect the population blocks across the EU Indeed that's the one of critical results of the West
phalia Treay in 1648 that created
the European nations

[David W]

I am Irish, I voted Yes in the referendum on Thursday and I am ashamed at the selfishness and stupidity of my countrymen and women who chose to trust the extremes of the political spectrum (including some mysteriousness new organisations with links to US arms manufacturers) above 93% of the parliamentarians we chose just one year ago. I am ashamed to be Irish.

[John Bull]

I suspect you're correct. The Irish have indeed done Cameron a big favour. Isn't it amazing what happens when ordinary people are actually engaged in debate? What can happen is that people start to take notice...look at the issues and sometimes views start to change. A majority opinion can be reversed as the Irish have shown.

Isn't it just possible that Davis has begun a similar process and I suspect he's done the Tories and Cameron a big favour. Many people, especially young disaffected and apathetic people, have started to take notice. For every cynical mystified MP and journalist, there's twenty or so citizens thrilled and electrified by his decision. (granted there's another 60 who aren't interested). Aside from the possibility of bringing in a swathe of new activists and reaffirming the 'cred' of the Tories, Davis probably can turn around people's views.

[Adam McNestrie]

The politics surrounding the European in Britain is different in kind from every other aspect of UK politics. Instead of a bored, disengaged electorate, somewhat suspicious of politicians, but broadly willing to trust them to get on with the business of politics we have a rabid media clamouring on behalf of the people for a referendum and screaming ‘Betrayal!’. Politicians can’t be trusted on this issue; elites are corrupt and power-hungry and they don’t see the world the same way as decent, ordinary people. Or so says The Sun and the Daily Mail. Politicians can’t be trusted and they aren’t up to the job; instead ordinary people on the basis of a simple majority vote should be the ones to decide whether this fiendishly complicated, legalese-soaked document should be approved. When it comes to one of the most complicated, technical decisions that needs to be made in politics they want to have the professional law-makers stand aside and surrender themselves to the amateurs.

Europe is the only issue in British politics where this sort of direct democracy, anti-elite populism has any real influence. And it’s because we’re suspicious of people we don’t know, people who aren’t like us. British politicians can be trusted with authority because shared experiences, values and traditions mean that we can rely on them to see things our way. Politicians from other countries and particularly EU officials in “Brussels” (a sort of hellmouth to the Eurosceptics) can’t be trusted with power because we don’t have that same guarantee that they will share our perspective. The great heat that one sees displayed on this issue and the nauseatingly insistent appeals for a referendum are an outgrowth of a very understandable, but lamentable, chauvinism. We like what and who we are familiar with; everything else we are suspicious of.

To read more on the European constitution link to my blog, just who the hell are we?, at:
http://adammcnestrie.wordpress.com/

[paul connolly]

john bull is right the press rather odd!especially labour have got it wrong again , majority of uk people think we are being governed, by bullying dictatorship, + our civil liberties at risk daily, hoon+brown are on the edge they know time is against them, the recent poll re 42 days was strange and did not reflect peoples views(1 poll)!

[Victoria]

Phrases such as: 'a central player in Europe' and ' at the heart of Europe' are partly why so many hate the EU. The 'central players' and the ones 'at the heart' will only ever be the countries who toe the line. How is that democratic or fair? Ireland were 'central players' but now because they have not 'toed the line' they are to be pushed to the back in disgrace. There are of course 2 countries who will always play the tune and the others will have to dance to that tune. They are France and Germany, also Italy to a certain extent. They will always be 'central players', no matter what. Being the initial members they seem to think that they are more important, and just because they are bigger than most they seem to have made themselves permanent 'central players'. When the French voted 'NO' it did not deter them one bit as they knew they could just tinker with it and push it through regardless. It was is if they said: 'That doesn't count because we are France and we can do what we like' and ' everybody else has to pay fines and follow the rules, except us because we are in charge'. The whole EU seems to work like a marriage with several wives. France and Germany are the husbands and the rest of us are the many wives. Some months one will be in favour, the next another. Apart from France and Germany all the rest of us will always be in or out of favour depending on how well we toe the line. Carrying on with the marriage analogy, Ireland could now be faced with a petition for divorce.