Oct 01 2007
The case for a referendum on the EU constitution
Today I spoke to a packed meeting in Blackpool on the need for a referendum on the so-called Amendment Treaty, the old Constitution in repackaged format. To a man and woman they naturally agreed.
We talked about what more we need to do to highlight the way this government has broken its word on granting a referendum. They promised us one before the last election, to avoid debate about this issue where they were at odds with most British people. Their trick worked. Now they refuse to honour their promise. No wonder people are so cynical about politicians.
Polling shows that around four out of five people think there should be referendum on this further large transfer of power from the UK to Brussels. We need to show the same tenacity in campaigning on this issue, as we did to save the pound a decade ago.
Everyone should sign up to the Sun and the Telegraph referenda petitions. Those involved in party campaigning should ensure good material is included in literature on why we must say "No" to the constitution, and how Labour has broken its promise on this crucial issue. All of us can urge our friend to sign the petitions. More need to bombard federalist MPs with their objections to this constitution. More should complain to Labour MPs about the way they have broken their election word. Some decent Labour MPs are breaking ranks and admitting that their government should hold a vote. We need more to do so. The Liberal Democrats calling for a referendum on In/out are trying to split the anti Constitution anti federalist vote and save their own skins. Remember they are always pro the EU having more power, and will vote with the Labour government when the Constitution comes before the House (assuming no early election to give us a chance to defeat them).
We should tell people that the sacrifice of 50 vetoes means many important areas where the British people and their elected representatives could no longer govern themselves. The amazing self amending nature of the Constitutional Treaty means we might never get a proper opportunity again to express a public view on how much power is to be transferred.
John Redwood has been the Member of Parliament for Wokingham since 1987. First attending Kent College, Canterbury, he graduated from Magdalen College...
I have some thoughts on this which I posted on an alternative discussion forum as follows…
If, in the past, I have had an opportunity to do the right thing; and if I failed to seize that opportunity; and if that opportunity arises again, then should my previous failure prevent me from doing the right thing now? Common sense would say: of course not. But when it comes to the labyrinthine operations of the EU common sense does not apply.
So it is that sensible people, who should know better, argue that we should not have a referendum on the proposed EU Constitution since no such referendum was held on the Single European Act or the Maastricht Treaty. To put it another way: because we were not consulted about these matters in the past we do not deserve to be consulted about them now. There are all sorts of things wrong with this, not the least of which is that it is historically inaccurate: we were offered a referendum on our membership of the European experiment, despite the fact that the club we were joining was very different to the one we are now a member of. More importantly, in the case of this European innovation, a referendum was promised by the Labour Party as part of its 2005 election manifesto.
That this truth is inconvenient to Labour is revealed by the disingenuous response of its pet Europhiles. That promise, we are told, no longer applies, since the new
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Here, Here John, I agree with everything you say on this one.
Is it not possible for one of the many legally qualified party members to take action against the PM for treason? I thought as PM one swore an oath to the queen, surely by effectively working to take sovereignty away from Her Majesty by effectively transferring sovereignty and power to Brussels, that must be treason
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