Late last night, Bill Cash put down this Early Day Motion:
“That this House notes that there are increasing demands from France and Germany for a new European Union Treaty; further notes that the European Parliament itself has now proposed a 5.9 per cent. increase in the European budget; further notes that the United Kingdom Parliament on Wednesday 13 October 2010 rejected the increase; furthernotes that the EU Budget Commissioner Janusz Lewandowski is proposing a European tax; recalls that the Coalition Agreement is committed to a referendum on `any proposed future treaty that transferred areas of power, or competences'; calls on the Government to make it immediately clear to France and Germany, to the European Commission and to the European Parliament that the United Kingdom will reject a European tax and an increase in the EU budget and EU economic governance over the UK and will veto any such treaty; and reasserts and reaffirms the United Kingdom rebate and the sovereignty, in practice, of the United Kingdom Parliament, about which the European Scrutiny Committee is holding an inquiry.”
It has so far been signed by Brian Binley, Peter Bone, Graham Brady, Douglas Carswell, Christopher Chope, James Clappison, Philip Davies, David Davis, Zac Goldsmith, Bernard Jenkin, Edward Leigh, Peter Lilley, David Nuttall, Priti Patel, John Redwood, Richard Shepherd, Bob Stewart and John Whittingdale. I am told that more signatures will be added today.
Of course recent developments – such as EU Budget Commissioner Janusz Lewandowski proposing a European tax and the irresponsible European Parliament itself proposing a 5.9 % increase in the European budget – remind us that the Conservative Party and the Parliament must push forward the sovereignty issue, because ultimately that is what decides ‘how we are to be governed’. For example, spending cuts and austerity measures in general must only be considered if a Government is prepared to make a comprehensive financial analysis of all elements of the nation’s finances – including the vast amounts of money we seem prepared to hand over to the European Union through our contributions to its budget.
