The Democracy Movement: Press Release





MEDIA RELEASE 6 March 2008 Embargo: none MPs REJECT REFERENDUM ON RE-NAMED EU CONSTITUTION - DM comments A majority of MPs voted yesterday evening against a referendum on the re-named EU Constitution Treaty, despite having promised one at the last election. A Conservative amendment for a referendum was defeated by a majority of 63 votes - 311 votes to 248. A second referendum amendment, put down by rebel Labour MPs, was defeated by a majority of 64 votes. The way that this treaty has been forced through Parliament lacks all legitimacy. Government promises of a public vote, of 'line-by-line scrutiny' and then of plentiful time to debate the treaty have all been broken. Large swathes of vital powers the treaty gifts to remote EU institutions - such as in defence, borders, future treaty revision and voting weights - have been blocked from Parliamentary debate. The verdict of the cross-party House of Commons European Scrutiny Committee that the Treaty is "substantially equivalent" to the EU Constitution has also been completely ignored by the Government and large numbers of MPs. Most serious of all, various polls show that the Government has utterly failed to convince the public that the Lisbon Treaty is not the EU Constitution re-named, yet have still refused to honour their clear manifesto promise of a public vote. *How individual MPs voted can now be seen on our ReferendumList* campaign website. Essentially, the bulk of the Conservatives were supported by 29 Labour MPs, 15 Liberal Democrats, the Scottish and Welsh nationalist parties and some independents. But this was not enough to overcome the Government's majority. A breakdown of how those referendum rebels we had identified actually behaved during the vote is as follows: - of the 29 Labour MPs we had recorded as supporting a referendum, three did not vote and three voted against a referendum. One who voted against actually supported a referendum amendment at the Second Reading of the treaty Bill, and voted against its Second Reading, so his switch is inexplicable. The remaining two who voted against a referendum have evidently been writing misleading letters to their constituents stating that they would support a public vote. Six additional Labour MPs voted in support of a referendum. - of the 10 Lib Dem MPs we had recorded as supporting a referendum, one abstained and one did not vote. An additional seven voted in support of a treaty referendum, totalling fifteen rebels against Nick Clegg's policy. The Democracy Movement has responded to the vote by announcing the launch of an 'Integrity Fund' to finance local campaigning in marginal constituencies between now and the next general election, which could now be just over a year away. The fund will target MPs of all parties who have voted against the referendum they promised at the last election, and will finance the distribution of thousands of leaflets, advertising and other campaign activities in each target constituency. Funds have already been pledged to cover more than a dozen constituencies. Democracy Movement director Stuart Coster said: "Those MPs who hoped this issue would go away once they had voted contrary to their election promises have made a huge miscalculation. "On the basis of how MPs have voted on a Treaty referendum relative to their election promises, between now and the next general election we intend to ensure local voters know who they can and cannot trust." After the remaining stages in the Commons, the Bill ratifying the Lisbon Treaty will move to the House of Lords where there will be further debates about a referendum. If the Lords pass a referendum amendment, the issue could be put to the vote once again in the Commons. The matter of this treaty and broken promises of a referendum is very far from over. CONTACTS:** Stuart Coster, DM Campaign Office Tel: 020 7603 7796 / 07966 178806

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