IWR in the news
01/10/07
MPs fear EU treaty will weaken UK sovereignty
The Telegraph
Fears that the draft EU treaty will weaken British sovereignty have been voiced by MPs as the campaign for a referendum intensifies.
MPs on the Commons' European Scrutiny committee plan to question Jim Murphy, the Europe Minister, over the treaty and its implications for Britain.
The cross-party committee session at Westminster - unusually timetabled for the middle of the Tory conference and just days before Parliament reconvenes - will focus on government claims that its so-called "red lines" will protect the UK from more interference from Brussels on issues such as tax, the police and foreign policy.
Gordon Brown has repeatedly insisted that even though the treaty revives aspects of the defunct EU constitution - such as a permanent EU president - there is no longer any need to hold a referendum.
But Michael Connarty, the Labour chairman of the committee, voiced his doubts and those of his fellow committee members about Ministers' claims that the red lines would protect Britain.
He said: "The Government must show that it can stand up its assurances about the safeguards it has gained for the UK's policies in winning the four red lines.
"The committee's concern is that the red lines will not be able to repel the spread of EU Commission interference and control over policy areas vital to the UK's independent interests.
"We intend to give the Minister every opportunity to go beyond repetitive assurances and present the UK Parliament with serious evidence of the Government's safeguards."
The cross-party committee is also due to finalise an eagerly-awaited report on the draft treaty, with the report likely to be published next week.
The timing of today's hearing has provoked protests from Tory MPs attending the party's annual conference in Blackpool.
David Heathcoat-Amory, MP for Wells and who served as the Tories' parliamentary representative on the previous EU constitutional convention, said the decision to hold a committee session during a party political conference was "unprecedented".
He said he would be "driving through the night" to attend today's hearing but at least two Tory colleagues in Blackpool would be unable to attend.
The hearing comes as more than 103,200 people have now signed The Daily Telegraph's "Let the People Decide" referendum petition.
At the Tory conference, 400 people - including Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague - signed a special "referendum wall" at the Conservative Euro-MPs stand.
Timothy Kirkhope, the Tory leader in Brussels, said the referendum wall had met with "an enormous response" in just one day.
Separately, 19,000 people have already signed up to the cross-party "I Want a Referendum" campaign.