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In the next few weeks Parliament will be voting on whether to hold a European referendum. The Conservatives are proposing a restrictive referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. My colleagues and I are campaigning hard for the British people to be given a real choice through a referendum on our membership of the European Union as a whole:
http://ourcampaign.org.uk/europe
In British politics, only the Liberal Democrats have argued consistently that Britain's place is at the heart of Europe.
While Labour and the Tories have torn themselves apart over the issue, we have been steadfast for decades in our support for Britain's membership of the European Union.
Why then, you may ask, are the Liberal Democrats now alone among the main parties proposing a referendum on whether to stay in the European Union or get out?
The answer is because the European debate has poisoned British politics for too long. If we as a nation are to stride forward confidently into the 21st century and tackle all the new global issues like climate change and terrorism we need to decide once and for all whether that future lies within the European Union, or outside it.
Like most people, I want to see a reformed, liberal Europe where decisions are taken at the most appropriate level. That is why the Liberal Democrats are in favour of the Lisbon Treaty. It will make the EU more effective, more efficient and more accountable, enabling us to cope better with enlargement. It will help us to tackle issues such as cross-border crime and climate change and it will give the EU a stronger voice on the world stage.
The old, abandoned Constitution would have scrapped and replaced all the previous treaties. The Lisbon Treaty is just an amending treaty. So our proposal is closest to the commitment made by all three parties at the last election for a referendum on a European constitution.
Over the next few weeks we will be stepping up our campaign to demand that the government honours that commitment to the British people:
http://ourcampaign.org.uk/europe
The Conservatives are conspiring to deny the public a real choice over Europe. Over the years their Euroscepticism has hardened into outright hatred of everything to do with the European Union. In Government they denied the British people a referendum on really important Treaties like Maastricht and the Single European Act. In opposition they call for a referendum on even the smallest change.
We must not let the Tories con the British people again. Their call for a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty is a side show to the real debate on Europe which they are afraid to have with the British people.
We want that real debate. We want a referendum on Europe that really matters. In that referendum we will argue long and hard for Britain's vital place in the EU, and, I believe, defeat the Eurosceptics for a generation.
I would relish the chance to lead the Liberal Democrats at the forefront of that campaign.
Please support our campaign for a real referendum by clicking here and signing up to our petition:
http://ourcampaign.org.uk/europe
Best wishes,
Nick Clegg
Leader of the Liberal Democrats
1 comment:
Views from the other side of Hafren may be of interest (see myspace.com/adriansandersmp):
I like the fact that Nick Clegg, the new Leader of the Liberal Democrats wants to offer the voters, rather than politicians, the right to decide whether we should remain in the EU, rather than a referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon.
Nick, like me, has recognised that the Treaty of Lisbon is an amending treaty and not the same as a constitution.
Were this a constitution then it would supersede all previous treaties. A referendum in those circumstances would have tested whether we wished to remain a member of the EU because its rejection would be a rejection of the rule book under which the EU operates. A no vote would have been a vote to leave the EU.
The Lisbon Treaty is a treaty, it does not supersede all previous treaties, but amends them. The fundamental rules remain in place.
That creates a real problem for anyone confronted with a referendum on a treaty. There are parts of the treaty I disagree with and parts that I believe are very much in our best interests. In a parliamentary democracy we debate the detail of the treaty clause by clause and seek to inform Government about those parts, if any, we wish them to renegotiate on our behalf.
If we had a referenda on the treaty and the public voted no, which bits of the treaty would they be asking the Government to renegotiate? If the answer is all of it, then clearly the only honest referendum would be one that tested our membership of the European Union - a simple yes or no on whether we should retain our membership.
This was my position at the last General Election and we are now at a point in our relationship with the EU where no one under 50 in our country has even had their say in such a poll.
What I can't understand is why the Labour and Conservative Parties want to prevent such a referendum campaign and vote. It would give both an opportunity to lance the boil within their parties that continues to set member against member on this vital issue for the future of our continent.
Trust the people said Gladstone, good to see Clegg following the
tradition.
[Adrian Sanders, MP for Torbay]
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