The Freedom and Democracy Group – Ireland's bodyguard or bully?

By Kate Manning

This week every household across the country will receive a leaflet urging voters to vote No in the upcoming Lisbon Treaty referendum. Sent by the Freedom and Democracy Group which boasts Nigel Farage as their leader, the leaflet worryingly contains many blatant untruths.

The leaflet states, “Lisbon would further encourage the displacement of Irish workers and lower the wages for tens of thousands of Irish workers, many of whom would have to leave the country.”

In fact the Lisbon Treaty states that the EU does not have control over pay and the issue of accepting immigrants lies solely with the individual country. Why then would this feature in a leaflet intended to inform the Irish public? It would seem that the Freedom and Democracy Group are putting their own political interests above those of the Irish electorate.

The leaflet also features a statement about Corporate Tax:
“Ireland’s no vote to Lisbon halted EU moves to introduce a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB). The introduction of an EU Corporate Tax Base will take a jackhammer to Ireland’s economic future”
This claim relates to Article 113 of the Lisbon Treaty. The leaflet fails to mention that actually this Article does not relate to direct taxation such as Corporate Tax but rather indirect taxation. The Irish Government takes full control over corporate tax, contrary to these misleading claims by the Freedom and Democracy Group.

“Lisbon reduces member states' powers”
This is again false information. The fact is that the Lisbon Treaty will simplify the voting structure in Europe. This is desperately needed to facilitate for the increased number of Member States. Measures are also provided to ensure larger countries do not dominate decision making therefore protecting smaller countries like Ireland.

In relation to the guarantees that were achieved for Ireland, the leaflets maintains that “Brian Cowen had asked for legally binding guarantees. Instead he got worthless clarifications. They’re not worth the paper they’re written on!”
Actually the agreement the Taoiseach sought is legally binding, agreed by the heads of EU countries and is an international agreement. Already lodged with the UN it will become a Protocol if the Lisbon Treaty comes into force. The Freedom and Democracy Group failed to point out that this was successfully done before when Denmark wanted to opt out of a part of the Maastricht Treaty.

Unfortunately for Irish voters, the current Lisbon Treaty campaign is rife with untruths and scaremongering to facilitate certain political motives. Whether voting Yes or No on October 2nd, it is becoming increasingly important for Irish voters to strip down this Treaty to the bare facts. When reading information ask yourself, who wrote this? What are their political motives? What positive role have they played in Irish or European society? In the case of the Freedom and Democracy the answer to the last question is very little.