Lisbon Treaty — Referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union — rejected — 4 Mar 2008 at 16:27

The majority of MPs voted to reject a motion^[1] which would have allowed a provision holding a referendum on the United Kingdom's membership of the European Union (EU) to be inserted into the European Union (Amendment) Bill.

The text of the rejected motion^[1] was:

• That it be an Instruction to the Committee on the European Union (Amendment) Bill that it have power to make provision in the Bill for the holding of a referendum on the United Kingdom's continued membership of the European Union.

The Liberal Democrats put forward this motion because they argued that any referendum should be on the EU as a whole rather than on individual treaties. As Adrian Sanders MP explains:^[2]

• 'How can one remain a member of a club when one has rejected its rules?'

However, the Tories and Labour thought this was a cynical tactic by the Lib Dems:

• 'He is not arguing about the great principle of staying in or leaving the European Union, because he does not want that referendum at all. This instruction is just a weasel tactic to get out of the promise that he made to the electorate at the last general election to hold a referendum on the European treaty. Nobody who shares my opinion will be fooled by this rather disgraceful tactic.'^[3]

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• [1] Edward Davey MP, House of Commons, 4 March 2008
• [2] Adrian Sanders MP, House of Commons, 4 March 2008
• [3] Philip Davies MP, House of Commons, 4 March 2008

Debate in Parliament | Source |