You're being dishonest about the EU, ex-minister tells Brown

Under pressure: Gordon Brown is being urged to set out his 'vision'

One of the architects of the EU constitution yesterday denounced Gordon Brown's stance on the new treaty as 'patently dishonest'.

Gisela Stuart, a former Labour minister, spoke out as it became clear the Government was ready to accept the treaty as it stands without offering a referendum on the issue.

Labour rebels are canvassing possible support for a public vote on the treaty as the debate moves to Parliament.

Four former ministers - Miss Stuart, Frank Field, Kate Hoey and Graham Stringer - and 40 other Labour MPs are ready to defy Mr Brown, according to party sources.

The Prime Minister heads to Lisbon on Thursday to finalise the contents of the document with other EU leaders.

After private talks with Foreign Secretary David Miliband in Luxembourg yesterday,

Gisela Stuart: Red herrings

Manuel Lobo Antunes said: "The UK is happy with this text. They made an important intervention in favour of the treaty so I don't see any major problems."

The developments prompted Miss Stuart to warn the Prime Minister his refusal to offer a referendum was dangerously 'out of touch' with what the majority of voters wanted.

Her intervention is particularly surprising as she was the Government's-representative on the EU committee which drew up the original blueprint.

She dismissed the Government's much-vaunted 'red lines' - giving it a series of exemptions from the treaty - as 'red herrings'.

She said they had all been in the previous version of the constitution, on which Labour promised a referendum in 2005.

And she warned Mr Brown against creating a 'contrived row' over the red lines in an attempt to suggest he had scored a victory over other EU leaders.

Miss Stuart, the MP for Edgbaston, took colleagues aback with the strength of yesterday's attack.

Writing for the Daily Mail's sister paper, the London Evening Standard, she insisted: "It's a matter of trust and integrity.

A referendum was promised. It should be delivered. If Labour can't trust the people, why should the people trust Labour?"

Miss Stuart told Mr Brown he was already 'in a hole' and should 'stop digging' rather than 'digging another one on Europe'.

She added: "When he entered Number 10, Gordon Brown sought to present himself as a national leader focused on serious issues, offering a new style of politics - engaging and listening to people and involving them in important decisions.

"Recent events have shown some rather old-style politics, with the Prime Minister looking indecisive and lacking veracity.

"To pretend that Labour was not gearing up for an election or that opinion polls played no part in the decision to postpone it was silly and gave David Cameron some of his most damaging ammunition."

Miss Stuart said Mr Brown could not hope to restore his 'dented authority' unless he honoured Labour's promise to hold a referendum on the EU treaty.

She said she believed the Prime Minister's 'Praetorian Guard' of close advisers would argue that strong leadership meant 'hunkering down'.

She also predicted that they were committed to 'ramming' the treaty through Parliament using the Government's substantial majority.

But she added: "Sticking to your guns in defence of a patently dishonest position is not leadership, but the soft option, and a cop-out from a specific promise made to voters."

She dismissed Mr Brown's argument that a referendum was not needed on the new treaty as it was different from the now abandoned constitution.

She said the new document had '90-95 per cent' of the same content as the old one.

The treaty would create the first long-term president of the EU from 2009, as well as an all-powerful EU foreign policy chief.

It would also abolish Britain's right to veto EU proposals in 50 policy areas.

Is this why Falconer is gunning for Brown?

Lord Falconer is squaring up to Gordon Brown over his failure to secure a six-figure pension.

After the former Lord Chancellor wrote an article pointedly urging the Prime Minister to set out his vision for Britain, it emerged he was arguing with Downing Street over the size of his pension.

Lord Falconer is angry with the pension that Gordon Brown secured for him

He held heated discussions with the Prime Minister at Downing Street to try to convince him he deserved a more generous retirement pot.

Sources in Westminster have warned that he could take legal action if Mr Brown continues to block a deal.

As Lord Chancellor he was entitled to an annual salary and a pension higher than that of any other minister, including the Prime Minister.

But when he accepted the role in a reshuffle in June 2003 he opted for a standard Cabinet salary – worth £104,386 last year – rather than the £232,900 to which he was entitled. Consequently, he lost a chunk of his pension which he is now trying to reclaim.

Lord Falconer is understood to be unhappy that the Cabinet Office has ruled he is entitled only £52,193 a year.

One friend of the peer said: "Unlike some of his contemporaries, he did not spend years earning a fortune at the bar."

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