Government shelves referendum plans
The Government has shelved plans for a referendum on the European Constitution.
The Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told MPs on Monday that the Government saw “no point in proceeding at this moment” with its EU Referendum Bill.
It follows ‘no’ votes by France and the Netherlands in referendums on the Constitution, and the increased likelihood that a referendum in the UK would lead to the same outcome.
In his statement to the House of Commons, Mr Straw said that until the consequences of the French and Dutch ‘no’ were clear, it would “not in our judgement be sensible to set a date for the second reading” of the bill.
And stressing that it “was not for the UK alone to decide the future of the treaty”, he said there was a need for further discussions with Britain’s EU partners at the end of next week when the heads of states met in the European Council.
The Government would, however, keep the situation under review, and continued to believe that the Constitution represented a “sensible” set of rules for the EU.
Conservative Shadow Foreign Secretary Dr Liam Fox attacked European politicians for continuing to support the constitution despite the French and Dutch ‘no’ votes.
“I may no longer practise medicine, but I can tell a corpse when I see one … this, Mr Speaker, is a dead Constitution,” he said.
Mr Straw, meanwhile, echoed comments he made last week in saying the results of the referendums in France and Holland raised “profound questions” about the future direction of the EU.
It would have to come to terms with globalisation, determine how it could strengthen the force for good in foreign policy, ensure it provided value for money for its citizens, and ensure the principle of subsidiarity was a reality.
These principles would form the basis for Britain’s Presidency of the EU, which starts on July 1, Mr Straw added.
The European Union Constitutional treaty was penned in October 2004 to streamline legislation across the EU after it grew from 15 to 25 member states in May of that year.
The EU Referendum Bill shaped the question put to voters and the legal basis for the ballot.
The question of the treaty’s ratification will be raised in Brussels at the European Council next week.
