Press releases
11/02/08
Launch of Eastleigh EU referendum
GIANT BALLOT BOX MARKS LAUNCH OF EASTLEIGH EU referendum
To mark the launch of the referendum on the EU Constitution in Eastleigh, seat of Chris Huhne MP, campaigners will on Monday inflate a giant ballot box in his constituency.
Eastleigh has been chosen to highlight the Liberal Democrats' decision to go back on its 2005 General Election manifesto pledge to hold a referendum on the EU Constitution, now renamed the Lisbon Treaty.
The launch will take place this afternoon, February 11 - the same day that ballot papers will arrive on people's doormats across the constituency. In addition to the ballot paper, all voters will receive an information leaflet with contributions from both sides of the debate and a freepost envelope in which to return the ballot.
The voting form will ask two questions:
(a) Should there be a national referendum on the EU Constitution (now known as the Lisbon Treaty?)
(b) Should the UK adopt the Treaty?
Everyone on the open electoral register of voters in Eastleigh will receive a ballot paper. Those who are not on the electoral register can call 0208 889 9203, or email customerservices@electoralreform.co.uk and request a ballot paper.
Voting will be going on between 11 February and 25 February and the result of the referendum will be announced before the end of the month.
To carry out the poll, the I Want a Referendum campaign has commissioned the Electoral Reform Services (ERS) - the world's leading independent ballot administrator and independent scrutineer. The ERS is recognised in UK parliamentary legislation and by the UN.
The vote in the constituency will be part of a first wave of referendums in constituencies across the UK organised by iwantareferendum.com. Together, the votes will form the biggest public consultation on the EU since 1975 and will increase the pressure on Gordon Brown to call the referendum he promised the British people in 2005.
Derek Scott, Chairman of the cross-party I Want a Referendum campaign and Former Advisor to Tony Blair, said:
“We’re giving the people of Eastleigh a chance to have the vote that the Government is denying them. We want to remind MPs of their commitments – every political party promised a referendum at the last election, and MPs must be held to that.”
Mike Taylor, Chairman of I Want a Referendum South West, said:
“The EU Constitution would give EU politicians in Brussels an enormous amount of control over key issues like crime, immigration and the NHS, and if agreed to it would be irreversible. It is only fair that the people of this country should be able to vote on it first."
Maria Hutchings, the Conservative Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Eastleigh, said:
"This is all about a matter of trust. At the last election all three parties promised the people of Eastleigh a vote on the European Constitution. Now Chris Huhne and the Liberal Democrats and Gordon Brown and the Labour party do not think that the voters should have the vote they promised."
"There are only 10 constituencies in the country who are able to vote and I am delighted that the people of Eastleigh have this opportunity."
Notes to Editors
1. The launch will take place on 11 February from 3.00pm at Hamble Village Waterfront, quay side (between Lifeboat Hut and the Royal Southern Yacht Club), with Mike Taylor and Maria Hutchings.
2. The constituency referendum campaign in Eastleigh is part of I Want a Referendum, a nationwide cross-party campaign for a referendum on the revived Constitutional Treaty. www.iwantareferendum.com
3. For more information please contact Paul Stephenson on 0772 561 0696 or Maria Hutchings on 07981 435 904.