"MEPs meeting in Strasbourg yesterday were furious. They fumed and shouted. They hopped about. They jabbed accusing fingers at the handful of Eurosceptic MEPs. We were 'populists', they said. We were 'dishonest'. We were 'a right-wing rabble'. Worst of all, many of us were 'British', who had never before shown the slightest interest in Irish democracy.
What had we done to provoke this ire? We had turned up wearing T-shirts bearing the slogan 'Respect the Irish Vote'. This seemed to madden the federalist majority, who, only two months ago, voted not to respect Ireland's vote. True to their word, they have since demanded that ratification proceed in the other 26 states and, in the meantime, they are implementing the contents of the Lisbon treaty as if there had been a 'Yes'.
'We respect the Irish 'No', but...' said speaker after speaker. Yeah, right. If they truly respected Ireland's 'No', they would undo the bits of the Lisbon treaty that have been implemented in anticipation of a 'Yes' vote, including the EU's diplomatic corps, common policies on immigration and a binding Charter of Fundamental Rights."
Of course we all know that the key parts of the Lisbon Treaty will be implemented one way or another over the next couple of years, some have already been implemented before the Treaty has even come into effect. The move to full EU integration is not optional, the views of the peoples of Europe are of no consequence to our putative masters.
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