Minister charged with letting 'cat out of bag' on Europe

Wednesday, 28 May 2003 12:00 AM

The Labour party was embroiled in a fresh storm yesterday over the draft European constitution, after Welsh Secretary Peter Hain was interpreted as suggesting next year's European elections would be a 'surrogate' referendum on the freshly penned treaty.

Tories demanded immediate clarification from Downing Street after Mr. Hain, speaking on the BBC's 'Today' programme, appeared to suggest that 2004 European Parliament elections would be the platform on which Labour would ask the British people for their thoughts on the issue.

Mr Hain said that he was confident Britons would support the decision of the government on the draft constitution:

'In the end, if people don't like what they get they can vote against the government in the European elections next year. They will more or less coincide with the end of this constitution. I would be happy to fight the next European elections on a Labour platform endorsing this treaty and the Conservatives can oppose it, and then the people will decide.'

Anti-Europe Tories meanwhile pressed the government to give them what they want, namely, a referendum on the new EU constitution, which they fear would hand over national sovereignty to Brussels.

Later in the day, Mr. Hain sought to defend and clarify his remarks.

He said: 'It is totally absurd to suggest that I said the European elections would be a substitute referendum on the outcome of next year's inter-governmental conference. People will be voting on a whole range of issues, especially when the local government elections could well be on the same day.'

Some were unconvinced by this intervention. Michael Ancram, the Conservative's foreign spokesman wrote to Mr. Hain accusing him of a 'sleight of hand' in denying Britons a vote on the new constitution.

He said: 'If we want to convert the European elections into a verdict on the constitution, no doubt the voters will give such a verdict, but it's quite hard to use a Parliamentary election as the chance to make a decision about a single issue.'

Mr. Ancram's remarks were reaffirmed by shadow trade and industry secretary Tim Yeo, who said Mr. Hain had 'slightly let the cat out of the bag.'

Mr. Hain rejected the suggestion that a 'superstate' would be a natural consequence from the new convention and insisted instead that Tory hostility to the EU convention was mere 'scaremongering'

The EU draft constitution, he claims, 'buries once and for all the myth of a Brussels super state. This is a partnership of nation states. There's some way to go, but we're going to bat hard to get a good deal for Britain.'

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