Response to the Government's EU Bill
Robert Oulds
The European Union Bill receiving its first reading on 11.11.10 will in due course bring into law the so-called ‘Referendum Lock’, intended to prevent the transfer of further powers to Brussels, and the ‘Sovereignty Clause’ which is intended to reaffirm the primacy of Parliament.
However, Robert Oulds, Director of the Bruges Group, the eurosceptic think tank, claims that the provisions in the Bill are in fact misleading.
“Both the referendum lock and the sovereignty clause are just fig leaves designed to hide Hague’s blushes after he and Cameron dropped the ‘cast-iron guarantee’ to hold a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty”
The Bruges Group says that the ‘referendum lock’, gives the impression that a British government will not be able to transfer further powers to the EU without a referendum.
However the think tank argues that “there is a major shortcoming in the Bill’s ability to prevent further erosion of the UK’s sovereignty, since power can still be transferred to the EU by changes to existing (or new) EU legislation.”
Meanwhile Foreign Secretary William Hague has already conceded that the Sovereignty Clause will not reverse a single EU law already taking precedence over UK law.
There is a certain irony for the Government in that the idea for the ‘referendum lock’ emerged following the PR disaster caused in November 2009, when Cameron, the Leader of the Opposition at the time, broke his ‘cast-iron guarantee’ to hold a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.
Speaking of tomorrow’s vote, Robert Oulds, Director of the Bruges Group, says:
“Every single Conservative MP was elected on the promise that they would actually be taking back powers from Brussels. Yet what we have seen is that, since coming to office in May, the Government has actually given the EU more control over this country.* There is no reason to believe that this latest round of pledges is any more reliable than the original ‘cast-iron guarantee’, given by Hague and Cameron, so why should we trust them this time?”
*Since May 2010, the UK Govt has agreed to the Introduction of the European Investigation Order; the Introduction of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive and the Creation of European External Action (Diplomatic) Service
-ENDS-
For further information contact:
Robert Oulds, Director
The Bruges Group
227 Linen Hall, 162-168 Regent Street, London W1B 5TB
Tel: +44(0) 20 7287 4414
Mobile: 07740 029787
E-mail: info@brugesgroup.com> Jack Soames
The Soames Consultancy
07747 694636
Robert Oulds makes frequent appearances on TV and radio on European and Conservative Party issues. He has appeared on BBC TV News, BBC News 24; ITN; Sky News; The Daily Politics; BBC World Service BBC R5 Live