Robert Halfon and I have each contributed on CentreRight on the referendums being organised in Harlow and Hammersmith to give the people a say on the EU Constitution, or Lisbon Treaty. The Hammersmith referendum is now seeing remarkable efforts by the Government to prevent the question being put. Guido tells us how Labour MP and candidate for Hammersmith Andrew Slaughter told the Labour Chairman of I Want A Referendum (IWR), Derek Scott, to "f*** off" on BBC Radio, to be broadcast tonight. Slaughter is a Foreign Office PPS, so this may even be the Government's official view.
Now, in a remarkable escalation of efforts to prevent the Hammersmith referendum from taking place, Slaughter has reported IWR to the Metropolitan Police for allegedly breaching the PPERA sections relating to literature carrying an imprint.
Many readers will see two ironies here. First, this is the same Government that has spent the last 18 months believing that the PPERA does not apply to it. Second, my interpretation of the rules is this: no imprint is needed by IWR, as this is not a Government-organised referendum of the likes envisaged in the PPERA. These rules are for referendums like that seen in 2004 for the North East Assembly, or if there ever were a proposal to join the Euro. The irony here is this - if the Government did allow a referendum on the EU Constitution, as they promised before the 2005 General Election, then IWR would have to put an imprint on their literature!
So I have offered to mediate between the warring parties and offer them this deal: the Government gives us all a nationwide referendum on the EU Constitution, and IWR will add their imprint!
Recent Comments