From Richard Robinson, his local IWAR co-ordinator...
Dear Chris
At the 2005 general election you and the Liberal Democrats, in common with every mainstream political party, promised your electors a referendum on the European Constitution. You now say that a referendum is not necessary because the Lisbon Treaty is not the Constitution.
Perhaps you have some insight that has passed me by but, if so, it has also by-passed European Commissioner Margot Wallstrom, who says, “It’s essentially the same proposal as the old Constitution.” It has by-passed Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero who says, “We have not let a single substantial point of the Constitutional Treaty go… It is, without a doubt, much more than a treaty. This is a project of foundational character, a treaty for a new Europe.” Indeed Snr Zapetero justifies not holding a new referendum on the Lisbon Treaty on the grounds that it is essentially the same as the Constitution on which the Spanish people have already voted. And German Chancellor Angela Merkel believes that: “The substance of the Constitution is preserved. That is a fact.” She is in a position to know: as President of the European Council she wrote to fellow heads of government proposing that the Constitution should be re-drafted “to use different terminology without changing the legal substance”.
Your electors in Eastleigh, too, are unimpressed by your reluctance to honour your election pledge. In the private poll conducted by Electoral Reform Services for the I Want a Referendum campaign, an astonishing 20,361 of your constituents returned their ballot papers. At 38.3% this was substantially more than voted in the Borough Council elections. Of them more than 90% said they wanted a national referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.
In 2004 you said, “In a referendum campaign, the British public will be able to decide on the arguments themselves following an open debate. Without a referendum, the anti-Europeans would argue that the EU could only function by ignoring its peoples and Britain would be on the slippery slope to getting out altogether.” You were right then and it is right now. The whole process leading to the drafting of the Constitution was begun at the Laeken summit because the Heads of Government believed that “the European institutions must be brought closer to its citizens”. Do you really believe that bringing in the Constitution by the back door without popular consent is the way to achieve that?
The Conservatives have tabled an amendment to the bill ratifying the Lisbon Treaty requiring a referendum. You promised a referendum, your constituents are demanding a referendum, and on Wednesday you have the opportunity to vote for a referendum. It’s a question of integrity.
Sincerely
Richard Robinson
Co-ordinator, I Want a Referendum, Eastleigh
