Parliament Votes against EU Referendum

All three main British political parties stood for election with a pledge to hold a referendum on the EU constitution. Wednesday, the Liberal Democrats and the Labour Party betrayed that promise, and in the process, suffered embarrassing rebellions in the House of Commons. Oddly, the Tories were united on Europe for once.

By a vote of 311 to 248, the Commons voted to ratify the European Union Treaty without holding a referendum. The House of Lords will now consider the legislation, and the bill should get royal assent before summer ends. This is not what the parties promised.

Labour saw 43 of its MPs defy Prime Minister Brown’s line. There were 14 abstentions, and 29 labour MPs actually voted with the Conservatives. Ian Davidson, MP, offered an amendment that was shot down 311 to 247 that would require not only a referendum on the EU treaty but also British membership in the EU as a whole. Needless to say, he isn’t going to be invited to Number 10 for tea anytime soon.

Most embarrassing was the performance of the recently elected Liberal Democratic leader Nick Clegg. Putting a three-line whip (“vote with the party or die” to those unused to UK terms) on a vote isn’t uncommon, but insisting on a three-line whip to abstain contrary to a manifesto pledge is plain stupid. Not picking a side in the Commons after promising to vote “yea” is beyond comprehension. Three of his shadow cabinet resigned to honor their election pledge. Mark Francois, the Tories’ shadow European minister, mocked the abstention call saying, “They are going to hide in the toilets because they have not got the guts to vote.” Quite.

The Conservatives, who are divided between the Eurosceptics and supporters of membership in the EU, stood fairly united (only 4 defections) in favor of a referendum. It isn’t that they would all campaign on the same side, but rather, they all agree (save 4 MPs) that the people should be the final arbiters of this issue. And besides, they promised the voters.

© Copyright 2008 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

Kensington Review Home