Nov 2009 05

Death by Referendum2

It has become a matter of principle as well as politics. Should a Conservative Government, were one to be elected, hold a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty now?

There would be logic in the Party’s position if key criteria were met. If declared policy were to revoke the changes under Lisbon, by unilateral action or through renegotiation, then a referendum would be a negotiating tool. In such circumstances, the changes that a referendum would demand would already be on the table. One might conceivably be dispensed with.

But that is not the case. The proposals set out yesterday by David Cameron are of a very different nature. They fall short of addressing the sort of structural shift that Lisbon involves; and while they suggest some changes in the balance of power through the restoration of certain competences to national control, this is very much in the vein of the politics of the 1990s.

As they say; been there, done that. There is sadly a whiff of Majoritis about the position. Far more needs to come back to national control even to make a sensible holding line, let alone address the excesses of past negotiators.

Early reports suggest that two MEPs have resigned their ‘front bench’ positions in Brussels as a result. It is easy to denigrate such a stand as no great career loss. An EU spokesmanship does not entail a fraction of the power that encompasses a similar position in Westminster, at least if you are in the party of government.

But that would be a mistake.

One of the two MEPs named is Dan Hannan, who is probably the cleverest man in British politics (and as it happens also one of the nicest). If the report is accurate, then it disproves the injunction that his skills are wasted in the European Parliament, since it has provided a safe haven for the much-needed expression of views far from the madding whips. It also more importantly demonstrates that there is the prospect of a real debate within the Conservative Party on how to fix the generational EU political problem. If only now the other political parties will follow suit.

 

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  • AdrianS

    I think much of the media are being unfair to David Cameron, as the Lisbon Treaty has been signed there is not much that can be done at this juncture, anymore than an appeal after a criminal has been executed doesnt serve much purpose, so a referendum on it would be useless. The real criminal was Gordon Brown who just signed away our rights, but of course this suited the Labour Party as the EU is left wing and this has put a left wing straight jacket around any new rightwing goverment— nice move eh?.
    What the Consv need to do is perhaps as suggested hold different referendums on how british voters feel about the EU and remind the EU that they never were given a choice by Labour headed by an unelected prime minister. Remind the EU that Britain is a democracy and undemocratic legilslation rushed through by Eurocrats will not be tolerated what ever they think. Much like a marriage thats gone bad divorce must be possible with the EU

  • http://herehydro.weebly.com ferrand stobart

    We are concerned about some dodgy accounting by MP’s ?
    How about a Conservative Government telling the EU that no cooperation or monies will be forthcoming until a full audited and approved set of EU accounts for the past 12 months are placed before the UK Parliament ?
    Perhaps this idea might be “circulated” now to get an EU reaction ??