No “bust up” over Europe says Cameron
Thursday, November 5, 2009
David CameronConservative leader David Cameron has admitted that he now cannot make the Lisbon Treaty, nor its provisions “magically disappear”, but has vowed to deliver a return of certain powers to the UK from Brussels.
His comments came after the Czech President Vaclav Klaus signed into law the Treaty, meaning all 27 member states have now done so. Cameron had previously said he would offer the British public a referendum on the Treaty if it was not ratified by the time his party came to power.
Now, in the light of this recent development, he has been forced into a u-turn on the issue, much to the chagrin of the considerable Eurosceptic wing of his party, a fact he acknowledged when he vowed to change Britain's relationship with Europe over the “lifetime of the Parliament” rather than as quickly as possible, as many within his party want.
“There will be no massive Euro bust-up”, he maintained.
Rejecting the notion that he still has the power to push for a domestic vote on the provisions of the Lisbon Treaty, Cameron said that he is no longer bound by hios previous utterances, as the Treaty has been incorporated into European law, and as such cannot be rejected by any member state.
He blamed Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and the Liberal Democrats for the lack of a referendum.
The lack of a referendum on Lisbon, he said, along with the recent expenses scandal, has meant that the public's “trust in politics has broken down”, a situation he has sworn to restore.
He said that he would seek to win back political powers through working with the UK's “European partners” and insisted that certain legal opt-outs, over, for instance, the Working Time Directive and Charter of Fundamental Rights could be achieved through future negotiations with Brussels.
In a final nod to his right-wing critics, Cameron also rejected the notion of holding a referendum on Britain's overall EU membership following this very public turnaround: “I just don't think it is right to concoct a pretext for a referendum”, he said. “A made-up referendum will not get Britain anywhere”.
