The Bruges Group made the following statement in response to the news that David Cameron intends to renege on his pledge to hold a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty

Barry Legg

Barry Legg, Co-Chairman of the Bruges Group and former Chief Executive of the Conservative Party says,
“David Cameron needs to come clean with the British people: why is he breaking his pledge to hold a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty?

“There was absolutely no wriggle room in the unambiguous pledge he made in September 2007. He offered a “cast iron guarantee” to put any treaty in front of the voters. Why has he changed his mind now? What has changed his mind now?

“It cannot be good enough for a man who wants to be British Prime Minister to hide behind the leader of any other European state. Václav Klaus is a hero in his own country for having stood up to Communism. David Cameron seemingly can’t even stand up for his own past promises.

“What is the point in David Cameron upending one pledge on Europe , but promising he’ll offer us yet more European promises in his general election manifesto? Why will they be any more credible than the ‘cast-iron guarantee’ he has just broken?

“How can David Cameron claim he’ll fight to repatriate powers from Brussels when he won’t even fight to implement his own past words?

“When David Cameron made his pledge to readers of The Sun to hold a referendum on Lisbon, he said this about the Prime Minister:

The final reason we must have a vote is trust. Gordon Brown talks about "new" politics. But there's nothing "new" about breaking your promises to the British public. It's classic Labour . . . Small wonder that so many people don't believe a word politicians ever say if they break their promises so casually.

“The Tory leader stands condemned by his own words.

“David Cameron’s future European policy is now incoherent, disingenuous and utterly unconvincing. This is a dark day for the Tory party, but a worse one for Britain.”