Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-10-07-Speech-3-121"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20091007.17.3-121"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
"Mr President, first of all, I would like to congratulate colleagues from Ireland on such a fantastic result. In Britain we have the UKIP and the Tories who, as you will all know, have been arguing for a ‘no’ vote in the Irish referendum. UKIP constantly tells us that we should not interfere in national matters, but they certainly interfered in the vote in Ireland, there is no doubt about it. I would like to say thank you to Nigel Farage. I think he did a fantastic job because I understand that his interference actually helped the ‘yes’ campaign. That is what is known as unintended consequences, but we are grateful for his intervention.
The Tories, on the other hand, are in total disarray. They have divisions over Europe and it is overshadowing their conference which is taking place this week in Manchester. David Cameron’s position on the Lisbon Treaty is quite untenable. He keeps promising that if he wins a general election he is going to have a referendum if the Treaty has not been ratified by 27 Member States. At best, he can be accused of dithering. At worst, I think he can be accused of being less than honest with the British people, because I do not know how he is going to do that.
And just when the major issues of the day need more cooperation, not less, issues such as climate change, how we tackle the financial crisis and how we deal with rising unemployment, just then the Tories have decided that Britain is going to be isolated and at the margins of the EU. They would like us spectating rather than influencing.
And we have heard their plans this week: how they are going to cut public services and to increase pension ages, and how they will help the wealthy by cutting inheritance tax. Once again they are fighting like rats in a sack, as we say in the UK, over Europe. They pretend they have changed but they clearly have not. No, they are the same old Tories, still helping the privileged few at the expense of the many, still putting dogma before the interests of the British people.
The people of Ireland have clearly voted for a more democratic, effective and dynamic EU and the EU is now a better place to deal with the real challenges of today. The British Tories now need to come clean and tell us if they are intent on putting the future of the British people in the EU at risk, with all the serious consequences that has for jobs and prosperity. So come on, Mr Cameron, come clean and tell us the truth."@en1
|
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata | |
| lpv:videoURI |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples