Our place to talk – an independent website for supporters of the Liberal Democrat party in the UK.

The most-read independent website by and for Lib Dem supporters. Not paid for by trade unions or millionaires.

Advert

Category Archives: Europe / International

Anything to do with European / international issues

EU treaty referendum: the Davey defence

By Stephen Tall | Tue 22nd January 2008 - 1:27 pm

I’ll readily confess to remaining uncomfortable with the Lib Dem position on opposing holding a referendum on the EU reform treaty. I do not like to see banner headlines on the BBC News Politics website proclaiming: Lib Dems oppose referendum vote.

It does not sit well with the widely-proclaimed belief of both candidates during the leadership contest that the party needed to become more spiky, anti-establishment, and to put the people – not politicians – in control of their own lives. Nor does it sit well with our previous, principled stance (alone among the three mainstream parties) that the Maastricht treaty should be subjected to a popular vote. On principle, and in campaigning terms, I think the party has made a mistake.

However, credit where it’s due to Ed Davey, our new shadow foreign secretary, who put forward a trenchant and persuasive argument in last night’s House of Commons debate on the Lisbon treaty. Read it for yourself, and judge it for yourself…

Continue reading »

Also posted in News and Parliament | Tagged ed davey and william hague | 97 Comments

Most Read

Op-eds

What I would have said about homeless children at Conference (Suzanne Fletcher)
Caron’s kitchen table diary (Caron Lindsay)
Tom Arms’ World Review (Tom Arms)
What’s on at Conference today? (Caron Lindsay)
Lib Dems need a 25-year vision that sets out how we’ll change Britain (Phil Wainewright)

Advert

Recent Comments

Janet King
Thank you so much for reminding us of the successful work which you and other local Liberal Democrat councillors do and have done over many years to sort out un...
Alan Jelfs
If we're talking a 25-year timescale than an essential part of that must be reducing the National Dept, currently costing £100billion a year to service. That ...
Jason Connor
In case you haven't heard, there is a cost of living crisis. So very high prices for food, I spent £70 on just a shop for myself the other day and not much for...
Jason Connor
Christine Jardine for next Lib Dem Leader please....
Phil Wainewright
Yes @Tim Rogers of course we need policies that deliver for people now. My point is that, if we don’t put those policies in the context of our longer term goa...