Tonight:
3°c
With a single dessert and just two glasses of wine our bill was kept in check - but the effort of doing so was not much fun
EXCLUSIVE: David Cameron reveals his faith in God, his fear of failure and his dread that another of his children could die
More...
Lib-Dems rescue Brown over Treaty referendum
Last updated at 00:52am on 22.01.08The Liberal Democrats today came to the Government's rescue over a knife-edge vote on the EU Treaty.
Up to 30 Labour MPs are threatening to back a cross-party amendment demanding a referendum on the treaty. However, Gordon Brown was all but guaranteed victory when the 63-strong group of Lib-Dem MPs said they would abstain. With Labour's majority of 158 over the Conservatives few anticipate a defeat.
Scroll down for more...
Gordon Brown signs the EU treaty in December in Portugal. The Lib-Dems today came to the Government's rescue over a knife-edge vote on the treaty
In a further boost to the Prime Minister, a handful of pro-European Conservatives are expected to defy a three-line whip and oppose the amendment.
The Labour rebels were emboldened by a report from the cross-party foreign affairs select committee which says the treaty is substantially the same as the 2005 EU constitution which was thrown out three years ago.
Labour MP Gisela Stuart said: “We made a very clear promise of a referendum at the last election… We must keep our promise.”
Her criticisms were echoed by Michael Connarty, the Labour chairman of the Commons European scrutiny committee who said the treaty paved the way for a “massive and fundamental shift” of power to Europe.
But Gordon Brown says there is no need for a referendum as the Lisbon-accord protects Britain's red lines — areas such as taxation and defence which remain in the control of the individual member states.
Scroll down for more...
Dead end: Referendum campaigners display their spoof signs as EU leaders signed the treaty in December
The Conservatives said that Mr Brown, on a four-day visit to China and India, would not be present for tonight's vote.
Shadow foreign secretary William Hague compared this to his late-showing at the Lisbon summit. “The Prime Minister, who was prepared to sign the EU Treaty but not in front of the cameras, is now the Prime Minister who wants to ram the treaty through Parliament but not vote for it himself.”
Europe Minister Jim Murphy said there was no credible opposition to the treaty.
I Want A Referendum, the crossparty campaign group which is co-ordinating opposition to the treaty, is to hold public votes in all Labour and LibDem marginal seats to persuade MPs to support the cause.
It means half a million people in marginal constituencies will get their chance to vote on the revived EU Constitution as part of the biggest vote on Europe since 1975.
The first referendum, to be carried out by the Electoral Reform Services, will be in Europe Minister Jim Murphy's Scottish seat of East Renfrewshire, where there is a majority of 6,657.
Despite the growing coalition, Mr Murphy yesterday claimed there was no "credible" opposition to the Lisbon Treaty besides the Conservatives.
He told the Observer: "Who opposes this treaty in Europe? The Animal party in the Netherlands, the Greek Communist party, Sinn Fein and the British Conservative Party."
But Labour MP Gisela Stuart said: "We made a very clear promise of a referendum at the last election.
"No one really believes for a second that this is a 'fundamentally different document'.
"We must keep our promise. These referendums will give people the chance to have the vote which the Government is trying to take away from them. Gordon Brown must listen."
Conservative MPs, increasing ranks of Labour MPs, some unions and a number of LibDems have called for a referendum, with an estimated two-thirds or more of the public also anxious to be given a say.
European politicans, including former French president Valery Giscard d'Estaing, admit the two documents are identical - further undermining the Government's case.
In its report, the Foreign Affairs Committee accused the Government of downplaying the significance of changes contained in the treaty.
It warned that playing down the importance of the new institutions was "unlikely to be beneficial to the UK's position in Europe".
The committee said: "We conclude that there is no material difference between the provisions on foreign affairs in the Constitutional Treaty which the Government made subject to approval in a referendum and those in the Lisbon Treaty on which a referendum is being denied.
"We recommend that the Government should publicly acknowledge the significance of the foreign policy aspects of the Lisbon Treaty."
Reader views (13)
Lib Dem cowards sell out the UK.
Phil Jones' comment is 100% on the mark, please everyone read it and think.
- Stan, USA
What a bunch of wishy washy fence sitters the Liberals truly are, they're going to abstain from voting in case they hurt anyone's feelings. If anyone wonders why this country's going down the tubes at a rate of knots, try looking at spineless politicians like these Libs Dems.
- P Pantsdown, London
The Lib Dems -so called bastions of democracy and freedom of conscience, sell out to Gordon. How outrageous! The whole thing stinks.
- Sarah, UK
OK so the Lib Dems are working together with the Crash Gordon guys... seems like they are definitely un-electable now...
- Peteo, Islington, London
I agree with some of what Neil Mcphee, London, UK says about living in totalitarian European state, but instead of anarchy I think we need to have a revolution and the people of Britain need to take to the streets. But this is Britain and the people never will, we are not a nation of shopkeepers, we are a nation of sheep.
- Peter Sparkling, London, UK
Oh well, let's hope the Tories live up to their promise to hold a referendum when they win the next general election.
- Sarah, London
NuLabour lied to us over the referendum and is now too gutless to admit it... Gordon Brown's father must be turning in his grave and I hope we will never again hear Gordon talking about his "moral compass".
- Johno, London
Seems to become a daily occurence for Mr. Bean Brown: defeated again!
- Georgie, London
Possibly, just possibly, the UK public is to have a say in whether or not this country is to become a province of the new federal state called the European Union. Article 32 of the Lisbon Treaty provides that the E.U. shall have legal personality, meaning that it can sign agreements in its own right rather than on behalf of the member "states" (what a vague word "state" is: it's used to describe provinces such as in Canada or the U.S., as well as used to describe nation-states, i.e. countries). Any person with training in constitutional/international law will recognise that any legal entity receiving sovereign powers from member states is in fact the central government of a federal state. By giving powers to the E.U. now that it is a legal entity the member states, such as the UK, are involved in the creation of a new federal state. The British people have to be given a say on a new system of government that will not only effect them but generations to come. The E.U. is already a much more centralised federal system than either Canada or the U.S., since it passes 2/3 of the new laws, with only 1/3 being initiated by Westminster. In Canada and the U.S., 2/3 of the new laws are passed by the provincial/state governments, with only 1/3 by the central government. If the Lisbon Treaty (EU Constitution) should be ratified, in just a few years expect almost all new laws governing the UK to come from Brussels, not London. The people must have a say!
- Phil Jones, London, UK
Brown does as he's told. We do not live in a democracy, but in a totalitarian, one-party state. The goal is one-world government, a single world army and a compliant, microchipped population. Make no mistake - we can change nothing through the ballot box; we have allowed ourselves to be controlled by a malign dictatorship. Only anarchy can deliver back the freedoms we have surrendered.
- Neil Mcphee, London, UK
Come on Labour, let us have some semblance of democracy in this country. A vote on the constitution and a general election please.
- Frank, Home Counties, England
The Swiss public did not roll over just to appease Brussels. Their belief in their own economy, resources and society clearly steered them away from any potential take-over of their sovreignity. The Swiss have been taking referenda on all manner of political decision-making for decades, and we should follow suit. Let's not be a British roll-over once again, even though that is in Brown make-up.
- El-Cid., Hull, East Yorks.
Thank goodness some politicians have the backbone to want to involve the electorate ...
- Marianne, SW France
