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Why I voted FOR a Referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon
March 11, 2007 12:00 AM
By Paul Holmes MP in View from Parliament
By Paul Holmes MP in View from Parliament
Last November at the end of the Queens Speech, and again on the 4th March, I voted for a Referendum to be held on the simple 'In or Out of the EU' question.
On both occasions the vast majority (464 and 471) of Conservative and Labour MP's united to reject the Referendum that the people of Britain want and the Liberal Democrats alone have proposed.
On Wednesday the 5th March I voted FOR a Referendum to be held on the Treaty of Lisbon. This is a much more limited but more complex question -and most people in reality would vote on a simple 'for or against the EU' ticket even though a 'NO' vote on the Treaty would not in fact take us out of the EU.
There is a strong intellectual case to be made for the argument that a Referendum is NOT REQUIRED on the Treaty of Lisbon as it is markedly different to the Constitutional treaty that all 3 major parties manifestos talked about in the 2005 General Election. That Constitutional Treaty (rewriting the whole of the Treaties of Rome, Maastricht, Amsterdam and Nice, all of which the Conservatives signed us up to without a referendum), was abandoned after being rejected by voters in France and the Netherlands. With 16 major UK opt outs the Treaty of Lisbon is very different for this country to the original proposals.
Nonetheless I personally believe that a Referendum should be held, preferably 'In or Out' but on the Treaty of Lisbon as second best.
There is an alarming gap developing between the public perception of the EU and the views of most people in both the political and business worlds, who know that the EU is essential to UK prosperity as well as to European peace and stability, international affairs and effectively tackling issues such as climate change. At the age of 18 in 1975 I cast my first ever vote in the Referendum that saw 69% of voters back the EU. But unless you are over the age of 50 you have been denied that chance.
I believe that another generation must be given the opportunity to debate and vote on the issue again. In such a Referendum I would argue the case for a 'Yes' vote - but it is essential that voters are given the chance to decide for themselves. That is why I rebelled against my Party Leader and voted FOR the referendum on the Lisbon Treaty rather than abstaining.
All but 2 of the MP's in Parliament have been elected as members of a political party rather than purely as individuals. Of course those MP's usually vote together on agreed party policies, that they represent and that the electorate in their area voted for by electing them in the first place. On some occasions however the MP's personal views/and or those of large numbers of their constituents are more important than an agreed party policy. This was one such occasion when I felt it was absolutely right to 'rebel' on your behalf.
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