EU Referendum to be shelved (in the UK)

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By Joe Murphy and Jason Beattie, Evening Standard
2 June 2005

Jack Straw is today preparing to pull the plug on Britain’s referendum on the EU constitution.

Senior Whitehall sources said the Foreign Secretary will announce on Monday that the Bill paving the way for Britain’s vote is to be put on hold.

The move, which follows “no” votes by the French and Dutch, is a further sign the controversial treaty is in its death throes.

Britain is unwilling to be the first country to declare the treaty dead, but Mr Straw is expected to use his statement to MPs to make clear the difficulties of resuscitating it.

According to reports, he will tell MPs the Bill allowing for a referendum in the UK is to be put on ice indefinitely.

A Foreign Office source said: “We are going to make a statement. We haven’t decided exactly what the statement is going to say but it will refer to the Bill.”

Europe Minister Douglas Alexander said public opinion could not be ignored. His words left no doubt that Tony Blair wants the constitution to be abandoned when EU leaders meet to discuss the crisis on 16 June. . . .

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Full article

 

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The UK, although reluctant to declare that the EU Ref is “not only merely dead, its really, most sincerely dead,” is willing to say that “resuscitation” will be difficult.

 

[burnside]

Tony Blair never really fancied having a referendum in the UK,out of fear he would get a NO vote.What happened in France and Holland has given him an excuse to put it aside for a while.
People are not really voting simply on the Constitution itself.They
just want to give their Government a black eye,due to their dissatisfaction with other matters.The Dutch,for example,usually more liberal than most,are not happy about immigration.
I used to be keen on the idea of a United States of Europe,till i realised it was not just about trading with France and Germany
and no import/export duties to worry about.I discovered it was also about gay marriage etc.I have no doubt that,if they are not stopped,an individual country which refuses to approve the likes of gay marriage will be hit with some kind of sanctions.