I saw the interview, too, but was too distracted by Clarke's gentle jibe at Mandelson's pomposity and his joke about the need for a uniform to go with his Lordship's many titles - Rt Hon the Lord Mandelson of Foy in the County of Herefordshire and Hartlepool in the County of Durham, First Secretary of State, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and Lord President of the Council. Lord Protector seems to be the only (and probably most accurate) title missing from this impressive list.
But on Lisbon, it seems to me that Clarke is just stating the bleeding obvious. Once (or if) ratified by the Irish, the very thought of Conservative Government in the UK then going through the costly and time-consuming business of holding some kind of mock referendum on a Treaty already adopted by the European Union would, at best, be a sop to the Eurosceptic extremists. Worse, it would be a further nail in the coffin of Britain's place at the centre of Europe.
I had great difficulties with accepting the need for a referendum at all on the Lisbon Treaty. Why was there not a referendum on the Treaty of Rome? Why no referendum on the Treaty of Maastricht? As for a retrospective referendum on Lisbon, why not an uber retro referendum on everything going back to the UK's entry into the EEC? Gosh, that would be the LibDem position, wouldn't it? Better row back from that one straight away!
In short, I agree with Ken's highly practical and pragmatic approach to this matter. It echoes the calls by Lord Heseltine a couple of years ago when he first raised his own concerns over calls for a referendum on Lisbon. If the Party Leadership is backing Clarke on this position (i.e. that once ratified, the Treaty stays - subject to more detailed negotiations), then this is a welcome departure from the policies of Duncan-Smith and Howard and shows that David Cameron will not be bullied by the Eurosceptic fanatics.
It seems that the "won't let matters rest" line is suitably vague and allows for an incoming Cameron-led Government to be as flexible as possible with regard to a realistic renegotiation on a number of key policy areas, including employment laws. This would allow for Cameron to be at the heart of Europe, make good on his promise to bring home certain powers from the Commission and reject the notion of becoming a second tier nation in the Union. "In Europe, NOT run by Europe".
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"why not an uber retro referendum on everything going back to the UK's entry into the EEC"
ReplyDeleteI like that idea.
The Lisbon Treaty (self-amending) passes too much power to the EU. The EC was dishonestly represented by Heath as a trading alliance so the people did not get to vote on whether or not they wanted what the EU intends to become - a federation of states.
The EU is anti-democratic and for that reason alone, we should exit.