The Wardman Wire

There are two referenda in the news today - the EU Treaty in Ireland vote and the Manchester congestion zone vote. Both have got me fuming and both show the pointlessness of referenda. I am not going to express my views on what I feel about Manchester and the EU Treaty, it is the principle that had riled me on this.

First the EU Treaty. The Irish have rejected this treaty yet just a few months later the Irish government are going to have another one simply because they did not get the answer they wanted. Had the outcome been Yes, you can be sure the Irish would not be getting another vote just to make sure! What is the point? If the government wants to push something through and are intent on doing it, then it seems they will do it - don’t try and kid us that it was some democratic vote that decided the outcome.

This Treaty has shown the absolute worse of an institution (i.e. the EU) acting under the guise of democracy when actually it is anything but. It failed the first time round, so they took away the vote and changed the name. It then failed in Ireland so they are now making token concessions, claiming it is different and will hold another vote. Throw in a few scary messages of the credit crunch and let’s see if they bite on that?

Then there is Manchester. Why have the ballot papers not mentioned the congestion charge on them? Because we all know that a referendum can be influenced by how you ask the question - and the people organising this referendum want a yes vote. Throw in a bribe of £3bn worth of infrastructure and perhaps the vote can be fixed.

I suspect both these votes will get a No vote. But it won’t be through a lack of trying from the governments in charge desperately trying every trick in the book to achieve their own agendas. Stuff the people but make them feel like they are playing a part.