PC 6: Let the People Vote?

[Amelia Lockhart]

The Government has been clear: the Euro is not currently in our country’s economic interest. Only when it is in our interest - meeting the five tests - shall the Government ask the British public if they want to adopt the Euro. It is unlikely that we will be in such a situation in the foreseeable future. A referendum now risks us adopting a currency that is currently ill-suited for our economy and our future. That is bad for Britain and bad for businesses. The Conservative Party would risk our economy and the national interest by having a referendum at a time that nobody thinks is right, and all to satisfy Conservative backbenchers.

[Brown]

Mr. Croft must have a different copy of the 2001 Labour Manifesto than I do. Mine clearly says:

"So the choice is between a Conservative Party which will deny the people of Britain the chance to join, even if it is in our national
interest to do so – and the Labour Party which says that, if it is in our national economic interest, the decision should be made by the
British people in a referendum."

While I'm grateful Mr. Croft and the Conservative party have come around to Labour's position on this issue--it is not currently in our economic interest to do so as the 5 tests have not been met yet. If they are met in the future, then Parliament should have a referendum on the issue--but not before.

[Dame Evelyn Redgrave]

“For the moment, for now,” said Tony Blair when ruling out the Euro in 2000, after many attempts by him to introduce it.

“Right now the government has no intention to join the Euro,” says the Chancellor today, after a lifetime of comments praising the Euro as an “economic no-brainer” and the “patriotic choice.”

Labour might try to claim they have no intentions of joining the Euro right now but we all know they’ll turn in an instant if an opportunity for the Euro arises. They’ve tried it before and failed, they’ll undoubtedly try again.

The only way to stop Labour from introducing the Euro is to hold a referendum to settle the issue. The British people have rejected excess from Brussels time and time again at the ballot box and I’m confident they will do so in this referendum. It’s time for the government to put the issue to the people to settle it once and for all, rather than clinging to the here and “for now” as an excuse to push the Euro through when it suits them.

[Andy Edwards]

I must have missed the meeting where we're charging towards the Euro. As the Opposition clamors for a vote and as the Opposition seems to say that we're rushing to adopt the Euro... it's only been a couple of backbench Conservatives that have talked about how good and strong the Euro is. I think the Government's position is more clear than the Tories' is: we won't consider the Euro until our five tests are met. And they have not been. We've put out reports on that, and I image we will again as we review whether or not a single currency is appropriate. But it seems like the Conservatives are the ones all over the place. Some want the euro. Some don't. Others seem to be confused on when there should be a referendum are not.

The Tories' call for a referendum is political theatre. They want one to score points, and to say they got a win. We'll have a referendum when the time is right... not when it's politically expedient.

[Sir Dylan Macmillan]

If Labour refuse to rule out adopting the Euro then they create uncertainty, the only way to remove that uncertainty is by having a referendum on the issue and settling it once and for all. That is what my EDM calls for. It doesn't call for us to join the Euro, it doesn't call for us to have a referendum tomorrow, or next week, or next year, it simply states that before the end of this Parliament (2006 at the latest) we should put the matter to the people so that we can put the matter to bed and provide certainty where Labour are providing chaos. It is essential that this issue is addressed head on and that the country is consulted before we move forward, Labour have spent four years dithering during a factional war between Blair and Brown, only the Conservative Party will provide genuine action for the people of this country.

[Sir Dylan Macmillan]

It has been Conservative Party policy to have a referendum on the Euro for over two years now, this is not a radical departure nor an attempt to catch the government with their proverbial trousers down but a long held view being articulated by the party in the face of uncertainty and division on the part of the Government. The British people deserve to be consulted on this most critical issue and they deserve to have their decision implemented by the Government when it is known. I urge the Chancellor and the rest of the Cabinet to stop spinning in circles and start actually implementing policy rather than hiding behind the bureaucrats.

[Amelia Lockhart]

I’m confused by Mr Macmillan’s statement. For him and the Conservative Party, ruling out a referendum on the Euro right now creates uncertainty, while a referendum sometime before 2006 creates certainty. For all this talk of certainty and uncertainty, it is clear that only one party is prepared to rule our adopting the Euro while it isn’t in our national and economic interest: the Labour Party. The Conservatives want to risk our economy by putting our currency at risk while the alternative doesn’t work and our country is unprepared.

[Sir Jack Anderson]

Refusing a referendum on the issue unless we're assured the United Kingdom is prepared to join the euro is not one that creates chaos. It is one that creates stability.

What would create chaos is if William Croft were in power. He had to move a shoe in Shadow Chancellor to the frontbench after stabbing his initial candidate in the back over the euro. Then his Shadow Chancellor came out and publicly disagreed with the Leader's policy. Imagine how this would damage Britain's integrity or standing if the Conservatives were ever in government.

We know that under Labour's tenure, Britain leads in Europe and the economy - far from chaos - is strengthened by the prosperity and stability we have provided. Compare and contrast that to the boom and bust years of chaos and division in the Tory ranks that they are continuing from Opposition - that chaos and division would see Britain be a laughing stock if they were in power.

[Sir Dylan Macmillan]

I am surprised that the Deputy Prime Minister is confused by the notion of a referendum on the Euro, it is hardly a difficult point to grasp. On the one hand we have a Labour Party and Government which refuses to rule out joining the Euro but refuses to say when they can see themselves doing so - not only that but they refuse to say which side they would even be on, we have a Chancellor who has spent much of his political career supporting such a move, and we have a Home Secretary who comes from a long ideological tradition of rejecting Europe wholesale in the Socialist Campaign Group. On the other side we have a Conservative Party and Opposition which has declared openly, clearly, and concisely that it is the position of the party that we should remain outside the Euro but that the people should have the final say which we would then implement, we have set a time limit for the referendum to be had before 2006, and in doing those things we have created certainty in our position. While Labour thrives in chaos, confusion, and uncertainty thus allowing them to be both pro-Euro and pro-Pound, active and inactive, and certain yet uncertain the Conservative Party have laid out a clear position and policy on what may very well be the most important issue this country has faced in half a century.

[Brown]

Ironically, when I asked Mr. Macmillan his position on the single currency and what side he'd campaign on he replied: "I will examine the evidence, listen to the debate in the House of Commons, and then present a side before the official campaign begins. I am not pro-pound, I am not pro-Euro, I am pro-Britain and whatever is best for our nation." That doesn't sound like a very open, clear, and concise declaration to me. As the Foreign Secretary noted, the lack of self-awareness from the Opposition is staggering.