Irish "No" a disaster for all Europeans

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Fri 13th Jun 2008

Today, the Irish voters have rejected the European Union's Lisbon Treaty.

Bill Newton Dunn, Liberal Democrat MEP for the East Midlands deeply regrets the result:

"The "No" vote by a small number of Irish voters to the Lisbon Treaty is a disaster for all Europeans and for us in the East Midlands. The treaty is a new set of rules to make more effective decision-making between the 27 countries in the European family, and it would increase democratic control of the Eurocrats in Brussels on behalf of the public.

"The consequence of the Irish "No" is that all Europeans will start to fall behind other parts of the world, and behind our American and Chinese and Indian competitors. We have sent a signal to the world that we do not wish to keep up in a fast changing world."