Today on the Daily Politics BBC2 show ex Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell said "When the issue of whether or not there should be a referendum on Lisbon came up then we said it would be much more sensible to have a referendum on 'in or out' but the Lisbon Treaty is now history."
Nick Clegg confirmed that we would keep this pledge during the Liberal Democrat annual conference (I remember I was there). But now the position is not clear. Was Sir Menzies Campbell simply wrong or are the Liberal Democrats withdrawing the EU In/Out referendum.
Apparently this was one of the reasons why UK Independence Party thought a hung parliament would be a good thing as a coalition could of led to a chance for a referendum according to Lord Pearson.
Today on BBC 5 Live Nick Clegg said "The only way to sort out the debate about EU membership was to have a referendum in this country as to whether we stay in or stay out. What we can’t do is to be a member of a club and complain about it from the sidelines." So what is going on? I hope the Liberal Democrat stance is clarified soon.
I don't believe this is a vote winner especially after the conservatives withdrew their cast iron promise. This is a policy we should keep and if the Liberal Democrats don't then I for one wont be very happy about it!
Mark Reckons has blogged on this very point and I could not agree with him more see Lib Dems should not ditch the in/out referendum pledge
Ming's probably wrong.
ReplyDeleteLets hope your right
ReplyDeleteI am glad that other senior LibDems have rushed to confirm that Ming's words were ill-judged. Actually the point he made that, following the total ratification of the Lisbon porotocol, a referendum on that is no longer relevant, is perfectly valid. It was the extension of that remark to indicate there was no longer any point in an in/out referendum that caused the trouble. Pro-EU pundits have failed to put the pro case properly or strongly enough. The Murdoch & Northcliffe press have been allowed to disseminate bias, innuendo and downright lies. The case should be properly made to force the general public to face up to the dreadful consequences of coming out of the EU. To name just half a dozen reasons - financial, local peace, medical, anti-terrorist capability, anti-crime co-operation, anti-pollution measures.
ReplyDelete