Campaign Against the Austerity Treaty: Irish people bullied into voting Yes

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Campaign Against the Austerity Treaty

Irish people bullied into voting Yes

Referendum result is not a mandate for home and water taxes

Labour’s way IS Frankfurt’s way

The government and the EU have succeeded in bullying the people of Ireland into voting for a Treaty they do not want. This vote was based upon fear and the Yes majority is a hollow victory. Even amongst supporters of the Treaty there was an admission that the only grounds for supporting it were the threats of exclusion from future bailout funds. This was the only substantive argument presented by the government and the Yes campaign.

The referendum result today should not be regarded as a mandate to impose the household tax, the water tax and other austerity measures. Those who are being most effected by the austerity measures – cuts and tax hikes – have rejected this treaty in large numbers.

Labour’s way is now exposed as Frankfurt’s way: the protection of failing banks at the expense of ordinary working people. The Labour Party should take no comfort in this result. They will find themselves supporting cuts and taxes that impose the burden of the banking and economic crisis on ordinary people. The Austerity Treaty, and the austerity policies being currently implemented, will bring neither stability, recovery nor growth. Labour supporters will soon realise this.

Over the coming months the activists of the Campaign Against the Austerity Treaty will work with those who oppose the implementation of the austerity measures that are embodied in this anti-social treaty. We will continue to link up with like-minded movements across Europe in support of an alternative that prioritises full employment, social protection, peace and environmental sustainability.

 

3 Responses

  1. Kevin Carroll

    June 1, 2012 7:58 pm

    The no campaign lost because they didn’t counter the argument about 2nd pailout funds sufficiently. When the yes campaign talked about funding from the ESM the no side should have attacked the lack of democratic accountability of the ESM and the fact that it’s grossly underfunded. I think that the no campaign could have negated this had they brought up the government on the fact that if Spain needed to be bailed out that we may not get funding, or at least not be prioritised.

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  2. Gabe

    June 2, 2012 12:38 am

    It’s an unenthusiastic Yes result, seeing as many voters abstained. A positive lesson to learn is that many people on lower incomes voted No. Many No voters paid attention to leftwing and Sinn Fein campaign arguments. Obviously there are targeted constituencies where leftwing and Sinn Fein candidates will do well in the next general election. Populist independents will continue to thrive elsewhere. Fundamentally there is nationwide a predominant mass of middleground voters who support the parliamentary centrist line on economic and EU affairs. The majority of Irish people are politically conservative and unadventurous. Are we any different from the English, the Italians and the Spaniards?

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