Democrat special issue March 2011
The case for a Referendum
includes the following:
The case for a Referendum
includes the following:
All three of the major political parties promised a referendum on the European Constitution, re-named the Lisbon treaty after France and Holland rejected it overwhelmingly in referenda. These commitments were then withdrawn. The far-reaching Lisbon treaty is now law. As a consequence, Britain’s current relationship with the EU lacks democratic, moral legitimacy. Given that the European issue divides voters across party lines, a referendum is the only fair way to determine whether or not the current situation should continue.
The German and French governments, together with the European Commission, want to centralise new powers in Brussels in order to try and secure the future of the eurozone. The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, envisages what she calls an ‘economic government’ for Europe.
This will include elected member governments having to present their budgets to the Commission for approval before they are passed by national parliaments, a permanent bail-out fund costing billions to assist eurozone countries facing difficulties, the harmonisation of corporation taxes, limits on the extent to which member states can run up debts and the imposition of a common retirement age.
There is now the possibility of yet another treaty being implemented in the near future to set these and other measures in concrete. Even if the British government is able to secure promises that countries outside the euro will be exempt from these measures, once the treaty is passed into law it will be the European Court of Justice that will interpret the opt-outs
The Advisory Council of Peoples’ Pledge includes:John Mills (Labour Euro-safeguards Campaign), John Cryer MP, Austin Mitchell MP, Kelvin Hopkins MP, Brian Denny (TUAEUC) and is supported by RMT Gen Sec Bob Crow.