GET BRITAIN OUT OF THE EU NOW
Thursday March 3 2011 by Macer Hall, Political Editor
DAVID Cameron was last night challenged to make May 5 the day that Britain decides whether to quit the European Union.
The Daily Express stepped up its crusade for the UK to cut ties with Brussels by calling for the planned referendum on electoral reform to be turned into a historic vote on EU membership.
Leading MPs and campaigners backed the move. Tory MP Peter Bone, of the Better Off Out group, said: “This is a splendid idea by the Daily Express. It makes absolute sense.
“If we are going to have a referendum at all, it should be on the question that everybody wants asked. It would be cost-effective and encourage a high turnout.”
This is a splendid idea by the Daily Express it makes absolute sense
Peter Bone
The move would transform the planned referendum on whether to replace the current first-past-the-post system for Westminster elections with the “alternative vote”.
Voters are due to be given the choice on May 5, also the date of town hall elections.
Critics have branded the referendum on the voting system – costing taxpayers an estimated £250million a waste of time and money that will inspire little interest from the public.
Adding a question on Britain’s EU membership would, in contrast, spark passionate debate, at no extra cost.
“It would cost virtually nothing more and would guarantee a huge turnout for something the British people fiercely care about. Surely it is time that the public get to have their say.”
Some want the electoral reform question to be dumped in favour of an EU poll. Euro MP Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence Party, said:
“Nobody asked for a referendum on the minutiae of how we vote for those who govern us. Millions wish to decide who governs us.
A referendum on membership of the EU will allow the people to decide who really makes decisions on our behalf.”
“Nobody asked for a referendum on the minutiae of how we vote for those who govern us. Millions wish to decide who governs us.
A referendum on membership of the EU will allow the people to decide who really makes decisions on our behalf.”
But Downing Street insisted that the issue of EU membership was not on the table. A spokesman said: “The Government believes that membership of the EU is in the national interest, and for this reason there will not be a referendum on whether we remain a member state.
“We do, however, believe that change and improvement are required from the EU, and we are confident in the UK’s ability to move the EU in the right direction.
“The UK will neither join, nor prepare to join, the euro during this time.”
Bridget Rowe, of the EU Referendum Campaign, hit back, saying: “What [voters] are interested in is having a say about Britain’s membership of the EU.
“The politicians have tricked and diddled us for too long. All three main parties promised us referendums on constitutional change in the EU but never delivered.”
And Tory backbencher Philip Davies said:
“Surely if we are going to have a referendum, it should be on something we want to vote about.
“Surely if we are going to have a referendum, it should be on something we want to vote about.
“When we joined the EU nearly 50 years ago, we thought we were joining a European free trade area, not agreeing to having our laws decided in Brussels.”
Whitehall sources insisted it was “too late” to alter the referendum question for the May 5 poll.
A spokesman for the Cabinet Office said:
“The referendum is now set in stone.”
“The referendum is now set in stone.”
The call for May 5 to become Britain’s day of destiny comes after the Daily Express delivered a 373,000-strong petition calling for Britain to quit the EU to 10 Downing Street in January.
Last night Mr Cameron finally responded to the petition, one of the biggest in newspaper history.
To view the original article CLICK HERE
No comments:
Post a Comment