IWR in the news

07/03/08

Why Scotland should go it alone with referendum on EU treaty

The Scotsman

By Alex Orr, European Movement and Referendum Campaign

THIS week the Labour-dominated House of Commons voted against the holding of a referendum on the EU reform treaty (Lisbon Treaty). It was a predictable outcome after a bad-tempered campaign, but where does that now leave us?

Well, it leaves us with a treaty that, despite Labour manifesto promises to hold a referendum, is opposed, according to recent polling, by almost 90 per cent of the population; a similar proportion also want to see a referendum on the subject.

In Scotland, the Scottish Government's position is to reject the treaty due to the entrenching of fisheries as "exclusive competence" in the document. At next month's SNP spring conference, activists will have the opportunity to vote for a Scotland-only referendum on the EU reform treaty, an opportunity to have Scotland's voice heard in both London and Brussels.

The Labour Party, Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and SNP all promised a referendum on the EU Constitution at the general election in 2005. But the constitution was discarded after Dutch and French voters rejected it in referendums later that year, and the Labour government and Liberal Democrats subsequently dropped their calls for a public vote.

The EU reform treaty, signed by Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, in Lisbon in December, was designed as a replacement, but the contents – including the abolition of dozens of vetoes and the creation of the new posts of EU president and foreign policy chief – are almost exactly the same as the constitution.

The call for a Scotland-only referendum supports the outcome of a series of mini-referendums undertaken by the "I Want a Referendum" campaign. This was carried out last month through postal votes in ten Labour and Lib Dem marginal seats and found that some 88 per cent of the public want a referendum on the treaty, and a turnout of 36.2 per cent was in line with parliamentary by-elections, higher than local elections and substantially higher than European elections.

In addition, last December the Scottish Parliament voted overwhelmingly for the UK government to hold a referendum on the EU reform treaty, and our neighbour, Ireland, has pledged to have a referendum which is expected to take place in June.

While Mr Brown continues to show his distrust of the electorate and has broken his promise to hold a referendum, it is vital a vote is held in Scotland. What we are dealing with here is something that goes wider than Europe – it's an issue of trust in politics, and ensuring the voice of the Scottish people is heard loud and clear in the corridors of power in London and Brussels. Should they vote No, this is, indeed, a powerful weapon, and would put pressure on the UK government and Brussels for reforms in key areas such as fisheries.

A referendum would also serve as a catalyst for a long overdue debate about our membership of the European Union, re-engaging people in the political process, from which they are currently largely disengaged, and serving to restore a measure of faith in politics.