IWR in the news

21/01/08

Scots constituency joins EU protest vote

Douglas Fraser, the Herald

Residents in Eastwood will be the first to vote in a referendum on the European reform treaty, as part of a protest plan aimed at balloting half-a-million people across

The East Renfrewshire seat, represented by Europe Minister Jim Murphy, is the only one in to be chosen for a postal ballot being organised by a pro-referendum campaign group. Nine other seats south of the border are yet to be chosen and may target senior ministers' seats.

Supporters of a referendum won the backing at the weekend of the Italian vice-chairman of the convention that drew up the constitution, Guiliano Amato.

At a conference on the future of Europe in , he said the British should have a referendum on whether to commit themselves to remaining part of the European Union or to leaving it.

The UK Government's worries about getting the reform treaty through , starting tonight, focus more on Eastwood's neighbouring Labour MP for Glasgow South-West, Ian Davidson.

As leader of a backbench rebellion against the reform treaty, which grew out of the proposed European Union constitution, he yesterday rallied the public to put pressure on his fellow MPs in their constituencies. "This is the start of the battle rather than the end of the war," he said.

Mr Davidson is demanding the government sticks to its 2005 election promise to hold a referendum on the European constitution. Foreign Secretary David Miliband yesterday argued the promise did not apply to the reform treaty, signed last month, which will be fully scrutinised at . "I don't believe this treaty meets the bar of fundamental constitutional reform that should be the basis of having a referendum," he said.

The government's case is undermined by two Commons committee reports giving support to the argument that the reform treaty signed in Lisbon last month is little different from the constitution rejected in French and Dutch referendums. Tonight, the issue goes to the first of many Commons votes over two months of detailed scrutiny.

Mr Murphy dismissed as "cuckooland" claims that up to 100 Labour MPs were unhappy that the government was refusing to hold a treaty, saying he was confident of a strong parliamentary majority. Only 18 Labour MPs have so far backed an amendment calling for a referendum.

Mr Davidson stepped up his campaign by arguing MPs should not be bound to back the Prime Minister who negotiated the treaty, as he is now out of office. "Tony Blair signed up to the initial treaty at the time that he was also negotiating to become president of ," he told BBC Radio Four. "None of us knew he had this conflict of interest. I don't think we would have accepted that ... had we known that he had another agenda."

The plan for a partial referendum of half-a-million people was started by Richard Cook, Scottish Conservative vice-chairman and candidate for , which has the same boundaries as the Eastwood seat in Holyrood.

He has raised £30,000 to pay the independent Electoral Reform Ballot Services to post a ballot to every registered voter in the constituency.

Along with a return envelop with postage paid, voters will be given two 500-word arguments for "yes" and for "no" votes. The ballot is scheduled to start on February 4, with a result expected by the end of the month.

Mr Cook claimed Mr Murphy is refusing to support a referendum because he does not feel he could persuade people of the treaty's merits. "For so many local people, the denial of the referendum they were promised by the government on this issue is simply a matter of trust," he said.