Tim Worstall

That EU Referendum

Rees-Mogg hits it squarely I think:

What is the real argument against a referendum? It is simple and compelling. The advocates of a constitutional treaty believe that they would lose a referendum. They think the British voters would vote “No”, and they are not prepared to risk it. So they want — as Mr Blair wants — to ratify the proposed treaty against what they consider to be the will of the British people.

Quite, the reason they don’t want to ask the opinion of the people is because they know the people will not agree. If they thought that the people would then they’d be screaming out for a referendum.

In

3 responses

  1. MJW Avatar
    MJW

    This fits rather perfectly with the comments Max Hasting made in the The Grauniad a couple of weeks ago: “The premiership of Tony Blair is now characterised solely by mendacity”. If Tony Blair told the nation it it was raining I suspect most of them would stick their heads out the window just to check!

    Reply
  2. Daily Referendum Avatar
    Daily Referendum

    The referendum on a new EU Constitution promised Tony Blair did not happen because it would have been rejected. Now the British government and the Netherlands are pushing for a treaty. Mr Blair said: “There was no tradition of holding votes on treaties. If it’s not a constitutional treaty, so that it alters the basic relationship between Europe and the member states, then there isn’t the same case for a referendum.”
    Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague said: “What he (Mr Blair) is saying now sounds suspiciously like an attempt to introduce elements of it (EU Constitution) by the back door, despite its decisive rejection by the voters of France and Holland. This would go against the government’s previous assurances and be totally unacceptable to the people of Britain.”
    I wonder how many Treaties that don’t require a Referendum it will take to achieve the same result as an EU constitution?
    It seems a good way of keeping us pesky voters out of it.

    Reply
  3. Zorro Avatar
    Zorro

    “If Tony Blair told the nation it it was raining I suspect most of them would stick their heads out the window just to check!”
    Actually I suspect most would just assume the opposite and certainly wouldn’t waste the time checking.

    Reply

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