Herald Express Letter 031107 - Tories and Europe [Again] !

Whatever the merits or otherwise prove to be with a finalised EU Reform Treaty the position taken by Marcus Wood and the Tories is one of political chutzpah of the highest order.

Labour's stance, that of parliament deciding, is a coherent one, albeit potentially politically unwise. They take the view that in a representative democracy elected parliamentarians vote on the issues of the day.Further, those adopting this approach would say we have little tradition of voting by referenda.

The EU we have today was, of course, shaped principally by the Single European Act and the Maastricht Treaty, both signed by Tories when in office and without recourse to a public vote. Was the Tory approach at the time misguided then Marcus?

Now out of office the Conservatives demand a European referendum. Consistent the Tories are not in demanding from others what they didn't offer themselves.

Like most of his contributions to these pages Marcus Wood's letter of October 31 contains another dig at the Lib Dems.

He entirely overlooks the fact that Sir Menzies Campbell put forward the most radical proposal of all for a Euro referendum, namely that of our very membership of the EU itself. Does he support the current Liberal Democrat position? If not, why not? Surely the voters of Bay have a right to know.

He is also quiet on another inconsistent Tory European policy. David Cameron promised upon assuming the leadership of his party to withdraw them from the European People's Party, the dominant and hugely influential EU group of moderate continental Conservatives and Christian Democrats.

A majority of Tory MEPs were aghast at the idea of being on the fringes of European debate and having little influence. Now it is said they'll withdraw from the EPP in 2009. How principled is that u-turn?

Being at the periphery of the EU, influencing no one and with Cameron at odds with his European colleagues and demanding a referendum from the government, having not offered such when in power themselves, leaves the Tories looking opportunist, erratic and ill-serves the British electorate.

I look forward to an explanation from Marcus.

Tory Hypocrisy on Europe - Letter to 'Herald Express' 170907

Marcus Wood doesn't let inconvenient facts get in the way of his latest attempt at political point scoring through the pages of your paper.

He accuses the Lib Dems of hypocrisy with regard to a potential referendum on the EU Reform Treaty. He fails to note that the Liberal Democrats went into the last general election promising a UK referendum on the EU constitutional proposals which collapsed in 2005 when Dutch and French voters rejected them. It is right that our people have a full debate about our future relationship with Europe as Sir Menzies Campbell has recognised by offering the most radical referendum proposal of all - namely about our membership of the EU itself ! Do you support this Lib Dem proposal Marcus ?

If any party is being hypocritical it is his own Conservative party ! The EU we have today was hugely shaped by the Single European Act and the Maastricht Treaty, both signed by the Tories, but without reference to the British people. Even Marcus, on his online 'blog' admits in respect of Maastricht that "I think we should have offered a referendum on the issue and so do most modern Conservatives".

Lastly, as should now be clear, and contrary to the claims of Marcus Wood, the Lib Dem position is wholly different from that of the Labour government. Wishful thinking from the Tories is no substitute for debate based upon the facts ! Wrong again Marcus !


This was in response to the following letter laughably headlined LIb Dem support for Labour puzzling :

Guess what, once again the Liberal Democrats are demonstrating hypocrisy of the highest order, this time over the European Constitution; a law that would give a great deal more power to the EU, and reduce our right to make our own laws and foreign policy.Pro-European Lib Dem leader Ming Campbell has now formally sided with Gordon Brown in refusing to allow the British public a say on the Constitution.

"My judgment is a referendum is not necessary on this document," he said in an interview ahead of next week's Lib-Dem conference in Brighton.

With the backing of the Lib Dems, Gordon is now certain of enough votes to ensure that this treaty will get through parliament without the British public having a say, in spite of having made a clear manifesto pledge that we would be given a vote.

These are the very same Liberal Democrats who make a living complaining endlessly about a lack of democracy and who demand referendums of everything from road pricing to the monarchy.

Our local MP has himself made desperate attempts to force our elected mayor to hold a referendum of the vital question of, er, whether Torbay has one casino or two. Yet it would appear he will calmly vote to deny you or I a say in one of the most fundamental changes to our constitution since the Act of Union in 1707.

MARCUS WOOD

Torbay Conservatives prospective parliamentary candidate