Hugo Robinson (Open Europe): The Irish people have voted down the EU's Lisbon Treaty. The EU's rules are clear - if any one member state rejects an EU Treaty, the Treaty falls. It seems pretty simple - Lisbon should be dead.
Yet yesterday evening, the House of Lords rubber stamped the Treaty. The
only explanation for this continuation of the ratification process is
that it is a means to isolate and pressurise the Irish, with a view to
reversing the referendum decision. Keeping the legislative process in motion reflects
a presumption that the Irish will be talked out of their rejection -
because otherwise, ratification is pointless.
Surely the only way to
truly "respect" the result of the referendum - as EU leaders keep
saying they will - is not to have the Treaty at all? The end result of pushing ahead with ratification would be a situation where 26 member states have approved the Treaty, and Ireland has not - making the pressure of isolation far more tangible than is the case now, where eight countries (excluding Ireland) are yet to ratify.
