Lib Dems all at sea over the Lisbon Treaty
Fraser Nelson 4:11pm
CoffeeHouse has just been brought up in the Commons – Mark Harper has challenged Ed Davey to clarify what on earth Lembit Opik is on about. Is it true, he asked, that Lembit is not a rebel as he claims because the LibDems plan to abstain on the issue of a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty? Davey cryptically said that we will have to wait and see – and said that one option open to them was “constructive abstention,” whatever that is. Answer: no one in that disorganised party has the faintest idea what their policy is. They can’t even decide if they will sit on a fence.
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Mike
February 20th, 2008 4:30pmPerhaps Lembit is looking to utilise the psychic energy given off when Nick Clegg gets very, very angry?
David Lindsay
February 20th, 2008 5:20pmThey could get themselves out of this one by saying that they are against the Treaty simply because it extends the legislative power of a body which meets in secret and publishes no Official Report, and it fails to abolish the Common Fisheries Policy. So they are just going to oppose it in itself, without any need for a referendum. This would be no more (or less) of a change for them than when they abandoned Paddy Ashdown's interventionist foreign policy. And doing that did them an enormous amount of electoral good. So could this. And, as over Iraq, they'd be right.
Name supplied
February 20th, 2008 6:03pmUtter rubbish, constructive abstention is a part of the treaty of lisbon. It might be best, Mr Nelson, if you looked into what politicians say, rather than jumping to conclusions.
Fraser Nelson
February 20th, 2008 6:27pmLast time I checked "constructive abstention" was Eurospeak for a member state chickening out on a foreign policy vote to let the EU fake unanimity where none exists. I'm afraid there's no such thing as "constructive abstention" in the House of Commons. You're either for a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty or against one. It would be a disgrace if Nick Clegg draws a big fuzzy question mark over this.
Will Rees
February 20th, 2008 6:35pmWhy single out Limbet Opik, confusion abounds, [URL=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/expert/infopress_page/010-21744-049-02-08-901-20080219IPR21733-18-02-2008-2008-true/default_en.htm]today MEPs voted on the Lisbon Treaty[/URL] 525 votes in favour, 115 against and 29 abstentions. Those against weren't the Conservatives (EPP voted YES) whilst voting NO in Westminster nor did the Lib Dem's sit on the fence (ALDE voted YES). Not that you would know, Google News finds no articles in the UK mainstream media on it, the closest is in the Scotsmen. Even the Beeb's man in Brussells doesn't mention it in his blog. It must be the fog in the channel.