On the Today programme this morning David Miliband contended that there was no need for the referendum that Labour promised in its 2005 manifesto as “the constitution is dead, last night marked the end of the constitution”. This argument is flawed on two levels. First, this treaty is–as pretty much every European leader other than Gordon Brown has conceded–the same document as the constitution. Second, as this week’s leader argues, Tony Blair promised a vote not because he believed that the constitution represented a fundamental change in the relationship between Britain and the European Union but to nail the ‘myths’ peddled by Euro-sceptics.
It is hard not to agree with Timothy Garton-Ash that we’re not having a referendum because the pro-treaty side fear that they will lose. If Gordon Brown’s talk of restoring trust in politics and re-engaging people are to be taken even vaguely seriously he must deliver the referendum that the manifesto on which he and his colleagues were elected promised.
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