Conservatives condemn constitutional flip-flop
Posted, June 26, 2007 @ 00:00
Public cynicism greets the constitution that dare not speak its name
Brussels, 26 June 2007 -- Speaking to Chancellor Merkel of Germany this afternoon in the European Parliament, Timothy Kirkhope MEP, Conservative Leader in the European Parliament, warned of the public cynicism now greeting the agreement reached at the EU Summit at the weekend and called for a referendum to allow the public their say on the type of Europe they want.
Mr Kirkhope said: "There is something not quite right about the draft reform treaty and the people know it. Labour maintains that it bears little resemblance to the Constitutional Treaty that preceded it. Yet, Heads of Government throughout Europe have contradicted this assessment. The Taoiseach, for example, says that the reform treaty will contain up to 90% of the substance of the old Constitution. Finland’s Europe Minister has said: “There’s nothing from the original institutional package that has been changed”. While the parliamentary spokesman for the Spanish Socialists has been quoted as saying: "99 per cent" of the original constitution has survived"."
As Mr Blair promised the people of Britain a referendum on the original Constitution in his last manifesto, Mr Kirkhope said that it was morally incumbent upon his successor, Gordon Brown, to uphold that pledge and let the people decide. To do otherwise would merely reinforce a sense of alienation from the EU and politicians.