THE SPECTATOR VERSUS THE GOVERMNENT: NOW HAVE YOUR SAY

It has always seemed to me that the controversy over the EU Reform Treaty and the Government’s refusal to hold a referendum was more about honesty and transparency than sovereignty and European integrationism. That was the essence of The Spectator’s call last week for a popular vote, under the headline “Vote for Honesty”. I am amazed that a Government so supposedly committed to restoring trust and building a “new politics” based on consultation, dialogue with the electorate and Citizens’ Juries can be so cavalier about ditching its pledge in the 2005 manifesto to hold a referendum on the EU Constitution. In the new Spectator, Jim Murphy, the up-and-coming Europe Minister, gives the most comprehensive defence of the Government’s decision to date. The core of his argument is that the 2007 deal reflected in the EU Reform Treaty is quite different to the 2004 deal enshrined in the lofty language of the EU Constitutional Treaty.