Clarke softens Tory line on Lisbon treaty
June 16, 2009 by Ken
Filed under Westminster
I have been waiting for the leadership of the Conservative party to set the record strait with regards to party policy on the Lisbon treaty.
It is clear that if the Treaty has not been ratified we have been promised a referendum by Mr Cameron, what was not clear until the weekend is exactly what the position will be in the very likely event that the treaty has been ratified.
The carefully constructed “We wont let matters rest there” is not exactly a clear statement of policy intent, more like a fudge of the first order but nonetheless a fudge that both Cameron and Hague has stuck to persistently.
But now thankfully Ken Clarke has either;
“reinvented unilaterally Conservative Party policy on the whole of the Lisbon Treaty and European policy.” (Bill Cash MP)
or
“just let the cat out of the bag. The Conservatives have no intention of holding a referendum on the Lisbon treaty and all their promises during the European election campaign about holding one can now be seen to be sheer, brass-necked dishonesty.” (Nigel Farage MEP)
There will be no referendum and the renegotiation for a massive return of powers has been reduced to discussing the division of competences between member states and the European Union about one or two trifling issues such as employment law.
According to the Guardian
Kenneth Clarke softens Tory line on Lisbon treaty
A future Tory government would accept the Lisbon treaty and concentrate instead on repatriating powers, mainly in the field of employment, the shadow business secretary, Kenneth Clarke, said yesterday… A Tory spokesman said Clarke had not changed party policy. “As Ken Clarke explained, if the Lisbon treaty is ratified and in force across the EU by the time of the election of a Conservative government, we would not let matters rest there. We have consistently made clear that the return of social and employment legislation to UK control would be a major goal for a Conservative government.”
So there we have it after the totally unacceptable Lisbon Treaty has been ratified, the major goal of a new Conservative administration would be the return of social and employment legislation to UK control.
Wow I am so impressed! I think I will still vote UKIP though and hope enough of us do to at least deny Cameron and his Fudging Europhiles a very large majority in the British Parliament.
