This week, Gordon Brown gave his first speech as prime minister to the TUC. Unbelievably, for the government that gave the unions the social chapter, several employment relations acts, new union rights, a cop-out on public sector pensions, the Warwick Agreement, and the Union Modernisation Fund, some journalists are still prepared to say that, these days, Labour stand up to the unions.
But there’s one issue upon which the unions are right, and Gordon Brown is wrong. And that is whether we need a referendum on the European Constitution, which was delayed, repackaged, and renamed in an attempt to hoodwink the peoples of Europe.
Let’s remember what Labour’s 2005 manifesto said on the matter. The manifesto upon which they were elected states, very clearly: “We will put the EU Constitution to the British people in a referendum and campaign whole-heartedly for a ‘Yes’ vote”. And let’s also remember what Gordon Brown has been saying about honesty and trust since he became prime minister. Take this one: “the manifesto is what we put to the public. We’ve got to honour that manifesto. That is an issue of trust for me with the electorate”.
Gordon Brown’s defence is, as we know, that Britain’s ‘red lines’ were not crossed. But even forgetting the red lines, the Treaty brings in an EU president, a single legal personality that will let the EU sign treaties in its own right, and the loss of sixty vetoes. Meanwhile, the legal adviser to the Commons’ European Scrutiny Committee says that one of the red lines “may turn out to be meaningless”, that the guarantee on the Charter of Fundamental Rights is not watertight, and that “all the significant changes made in the constitutional treaty have been reintroduced in one form or another.”
And they’re not alone. Angela Merkel says: “the fundamentals of the Constitution have been maintained in large part”. Bertie Ahern says: “ninety per cent of it is still there”. The Finnish government says: “there’s nothing from the original institutional package that has been changed”. And the Constitution’s father, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, says: “this text is, in fact, a rerun of a great part of the substance of the constitutional treaty.” In fact, he has put it even more cynically: “the public is being led to adopt, without knowing it, the proposals that we dare not present to them directly”.
It’s clear that only the Conservative Party can be trusted to tell the truth on Europe. We will hold referenda on any treaties that give further powers to Brussels. And I have already announced Conservative proposals on how to improve the scrutiny of the day-to-day European legislation in Westminster. But in the meantime, we must fight for a referendum now.
Everybody in Europe knows that the Treaty is the Constitution in all but name. And everybody in Britain knows that we need to have a referendum. Apart from Gordon Brown. Oh yes, and Ming Campbell.
"Is Gordon Brown the only person in Britain that doesn’t get it?"
Reminds me of the old story about the proud mother watching her son's passing-out parade: "Ooh look, my wee Gordon is the only one marching in step".
Posted by: Ken Stevens | September 14, 2007 at 09:12 AM
'we must fight for a referendum now.'
But we won't will we? In the insipid stupor of consensus politics nothing of substance must be allowed to get in the way of the bland leading the bland.
Tories campaign for EU referendum = Schism re-surfaces, modernisation threatened, issue ignored.
Just impose a new constitutional arrangement without reference to the electorate and hang the consequences. After all, we the English, are getting used to it and, after all, England does not technically exist.
Posted by: englandism | September 14, 2007 at 09:39 AM
Theresa -
Why do you focus so much on the EU? You're not stuck in the past are you? Hope this isn't a lurch to the right. We wouldn't want that now would we?
In response to your question no Gordon is not the only one who dosen't get it. Cameron is leading our party to disaster. The man lacks judgement, is a liability, he's Heath II.
Posted by: Radical Tory | September 14, 2007 at 10:37 AM
Brown's 'emphasis on honesty and trust' is a farce. His stance on an EU treaty referendum is a classic example of this. The Conservativs need to work to hard to highlight his blatant spin.
Posted by: Charlie Clifton | September 14, 2007 at 10:38 AM
My understanding is that Brown will sign up on 18th October and so it looks very likely that he will not have a referendum. Will the Conservative Party now pledge to hold one retrospectively if they win the next election?
It is time the people were asked to give their verdict after over 30 years, and there is the precedent made by Harold Wilson in 1975.
Posted by: Derek | September 14, 2007 at 10:42 AM
The constitutional treaty will be the last. It gives the EU all the powers that it needs to create the federalist Superstate monster. A commitment to hold referenda on future treaties is meaningless.
We must offer a commitment to hold a referendum on whether we should remain in the EU leviathan Superstate. If not, large swathes of Conservative voters will transfer their allegiance to UKIP or even the BNP.
Theresa talks about trusting the Conservative Party. Trust is earned by clear and effective action. I will only trust Cameron on Europe when he delivers his pledge to leave the EPP. The Movement for European Reform has achieved little or nothing. There is no mention of it in this article.
I might be more trustful if the Conservative Party officially endorsed and supported the Rally for a Referendum, chaired by Bob Spink MP. So far the Conservative Party has remained silent. It is time action rather meaningless rhetoric to earn my trust.
Posted by: Moral minority | September 14, 2007 at 10:43 AM
An elected government must be made to honour the manifesto on which it was elected.
Posted by: Tony Makara | September 14, 2007 at 10:52 AM
If better scrutiny of European legislation in the UK Parliament is needed, what better than the EU giving national Parliaments a role in making European legislation so that what Parliament says has real teeth? Oh look, there's a provision to do that in the Reform Treaty. We much make sure it gets ratified as soon as possible.
Posted by: David Boothroyd | September 14, 2007 at 12:01 PM
David, the Treaty's wording on national parliaments actually says parliaments have to contribute to the "good functioning" of the EU - that's not empowering parliaments is it? It's tying their hands.
Posted by: Referendum Now | September 14, 2007 at 12:37 PM
Theresa May's job should be rolled into DD's portfolio. Then we would have sound policies on constitutional reform, an aggressive anti-EU platform and sound policies on WOMEN (remember his 'DD for me' campaign?)
Posted by: DavisFan | September 14, 2007 at 02:34 PM
'In recent weeks Mr Cameron has moved in a rather unsavoury direction, talking about "anarchy in the UK" and highlighting issues such as immigration and crime.'
Well my God, a politician, talking about issues that affect millions of people? What is the world coming to? The Independent needs to get a grip on reality and realise that more things concern people than the environment.
Posted by: Stewart Buchanan | September 14, 2007 at 03:26 PM
Parties receive some state funding specifically fo their manifestos.There must be no extension of state funding when clear commitments in those manifestos are not kept.
Posted by: michael.mcgough | September 14, 2007 at 04:05 PM
Following up Moral Minority's point, if we do get dragged into a 'federalist Superstate monster', the end result could well be the UK leaving altogether in a very unpleasant bust up....
Posted by: m wood | September 15, 2007 at 05:11 PM