EURO-MP ROBERT STURDY CALLS FOR EU TREATY REFERENDUM
Euro-MP Robert Sturdy yesterday joined Conservative colleagues in the European Parliament in Strasbourg in casting a vote for a referendum on the revised EU Constitution.
It was intended to remind Gordon Brown of Labour's 2005 election manifesto pledge to give the British people their say ahead of a vote on a report that constitutes the European Parliament's endorsement of the Lisbon Treaty, a carbon copy of the old, rejected European Constitution which Conservatives have rejected.
Mr Sturdy and fellow Conservative MEPs urged Gordon Brown to honour his promise to hold a referendum and later voted against the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty.
Mr Sturdy said:
"This is not only a matter of making sure the government sticks to its promises, but it is also a matter of giving the British people the right to voice their opinion on the European Union. The rejection of the European Constitution by the French and the Dutch in 2005 sent out a clear message. European politicians should not continue to ignore this message just because they do not agree with it, but that is the way things are heading. Only the Irish have been given the rightful opportunity by their government to have a say on the Treaty through a referendum. It is high time that our government stopped shrugging off the issue of Europe and started listening to the British people."
