Guardian/Observer: Europe must not be derailed by lies and disinformation - by Will Hutton
Europe must not be derailed by lies and disinformation - by Will Hutton
Eurosceptics celebrate a triumph of the little people against the Euro juggernaut. Ireland's 'no' vote against the treaty on the European constitution is, in such minds, the brave assertion of democracy against bureaucracy. The European elite in Brussels, with its dark plans to hobble Europeans everywhere, deserves a good kicking for producing an unloved, incomprehensible set of reforms. It has got it. Ireland has stood up for Europe.
This is nonsense from top to bottom, a farrago of lies and disinformation. The European Union is a painfully constructed and fragile skein of compromises that allows 27 democratic states on our shared continent to come together and drive forward areas of common interest to further their citizens' well-being. The elite that plots this is a nonexistent phantom invented by populist demagogues. The beleaguered, unloved treaty would have improved Europe's effectiveness and tried to address its much talked about democratic weaknesses. The reality is that Ireland's 'no' voters have trashed an EU that is precious but weak. Most 'no' voters, grabbing on to the worst fear rather than reasoned fact, have unknowingly set in train a political dynamic that, unless carefully handled, could lead not just to Ireland but Britain leaving the EU. Everybody will be the poorer. Note EU-Digest: "if the Euro Sceptics in Britain and Ireland eventually get their way, the day might even come where Ireland and Britain will be replaced by Russia as a member of the EU. Russia in a way has far more to contribute to the EU as a whole than Ireland or Britain. If this happens it would finally get rid of two countries who have always been treating the EU with a certain amount of disdain and who look at their EU membership as "wanting to have their cake and eat it also."
Labels: EU, Ireland, referendum
