Are Tories guilty of Euro vote U-turn?
Updated on 14 December 2007
Dozens of Tory MPs demanding a referendum on Europe blocked plans for a similar public vote in the nineties, research by Channel 4 News online has revealed.
High-profile Tories including William Hague, Michael Howard, David Davis and John Redwood were among 269 Conservative MPs who voted against a referendum in 1993, in stark contrast to the party's current campaign.
Yesterday Gordon Brown signed Britain up to the European Union Reform Treaty, amid Conservative claims that its constitutional implications warrant a referendum.
High-profile Tories including William Hague, Michael Howard, David Davis and John Redwood were among 269 Conservative MPs who voted against a referendum in 1993.
But research by Channel 4 News shows more than 70 long-serving Tory politicians have seemingly done a u-turn over the principle of a public vote on the European issue.
Bryan Gould, the MP who called the 1993 debate, has accused politicians of "not grasping the importance of what they are doing" in relation to their positions on Europe, and treating it as an election issue rather than a constitutional one.
The Tories are calling for a referendum over the reform treaty, with shadow foreign secretary William Hague at the forefront of the campaign.
Hague said this summer: "The referendum question goes to the heart of the issue of trust in politics. The answer is simple: trust the people and let them decide."
But analysis of a key debate called by former Labour shadow cabinet member Gould on 21 April 1993, asking for a referendum over the Treaty on European Union, shows how attitudes have seemingly changed.
A total of 269 Conservative MPs, 90 Labour and five Liberal Democrats voted against the plans. Sixty-five Labour, 38 Conservatives and 14 Liberal Democrats were in favour.
Of the MPs still in Parliament 14 years later, 72 Tories voted against a referendum, with only eight in favour. Surviving Labour MPs voted 39 against, 22 in favour.
'Things have changed. First, in the past 10 years we have had treaty after treaty giving more powers to the EU.'Conservative Party spokewoman
Mr Gould, who now lives in New Zealand, said: "Most of those who voted in 1993 will not have heard the debate and will not have been well-informed about the issues.
"They would have simply done what they were told.
"In 1993, the 'establishment' was still pretty keen on 'Europe' - notwithstanding the disaster of the ERM.
"That is why a Tory government felt obliged to stay in tune with what they thought business wanted - and also why Labour wanted to show that it would be 'responsible' if elected and would also promote 'Europe' as the key to our economic future."
The Tories say Labour has reneged on a 2005 election manifesto promise for a referendum; Labour argues that the EU Treaty no longer carries the constitutional significance to warrant such a move.
Last month former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing, who helped draft the original document, said the treaty only differs from the abandoned constitution in "approach rather than content".
Mr Gould added: "I think it is being taken seriously, as a potential election issue, but less so (other than by a minority) as a genuine issue of constitutional significance.
"The danger is that it will again be decided by MPs who do not grasp the importance of what they are doing and who do not understand that they are betraying the trust reposed in them."
A spokeswoman for the Conservatives said: "The last Conservative government pledged a referendum on joining the Euro, were it ever to recommend it - by far the most important part of the Maastricht Treaty.
"Besides, things have changed. First, in the past 10 years we have had treaty after treaty giving more powers to the EU.
"Every study of public opinion shows that people believe the EU has had too much power and want their voice to be heard.
"And second, the way people want politics to work has changed. People want more of a direct say over how they're governed.
"In the past we've had referendums on devolution and directly elected mayors. It's crazy to have referendums on those but not on the even bigger question of how much power the EU has."
