51³Ô¹ÏÍø

David Cameron on ratification of Lisbon Treaty and referendum position; David Cameron MP speech SOT - If we win the next election, we will amend the European Communities Act 1972 to prohibit, by law, the transfer of power to the EU without a referendum. And that will cover not just any future treaties like Lisbon, but any future attempt to take Britain into the euro. We will give the British people a referendum lock to which only they should hold the key – a commitment very similar to that in Ireland. This is a major constitutional development. - But I believe it is now the only way to reassure the British people that powers cannot be given away without their explicit approval in a referendum. It is not politicians’ power to give away – it belongs to the people. So at the General Election, we will challenge the other political parties to accept the referendum lock and pledge never to reverse it. I recognise there are some who, now that we cannot have a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, want a referendum on something else...anything else. But I just don’t think it’s right to concoct some new pretext for a referendum simply to have one for the sake of it.- That wouldn’t survive serious scrutiny. I don’t think a made-up referendum will get Britain anywhere. For instance, what about a referendum asking for a mandate for our negotiating aims in Europe? We would have just asked for that mandate in an election and received it. - Would we really want to turn round straight after an election, with the public finances in the state they are in and the economy as fragile as it is and ask the same question all over again? A made-up referendum might make people feel better for five minutes but my job is to put together a plan that lasts five years, and I don’t think a phoney referendum should play any part in that. Let me repeat: a Conservative government will guarantee a referendum if there is any attempt to transfer further powers from Britain to...