Tory call for poll on Lisbon Treaty rejected

BRITAIN: IRELAND OFFERED the last remaining hope for British Euro-sceptics last night after the House of Commons soundly defeated the Conservative demand for a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.

Gordon Brown's government passed the moment of optimum danger with a comfortable majority of 63 votes as MPs rejected the key Conservative amendment to the ratification Bill by 311 to 248.

Ministers anticipate no significant difficulty in the House of Lords following the Commons vote, which provoked a damaging challenge to the authority of recently elected Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg.

An estimated fifth of Lib Dem MPs defied the party whip and three frontbench spokesmen resigned after backing the Tory referendum demand in defiance of Mr Clegg's instruction to abstain.

An embarrassed Mr Clegg insisted he had shown consistency and resolve in refusing to back the Conservatives on the "limited issue" of a referendum on the new treaty, while pressing for a public vote on the "real issue" of Britain's membership of the EU. Mr Clegg insisted the real Conservative agenda was withdrawal from the EU, while accusing the Labour government of failing to show real leadership on the issue.

In Commons exchanges prior to yesterday's debate, however, Gordon Brown said he saw no leadership in a decision to abstain, and insisted a proposed re-run of the 1970s referendum on EU membership was "not the way to plan for the future".

During prime minister's questions, Tory leader David Cameron rounded on both Mr Brown and Mr Clegg. The prime minister had "lost his courage" charged Mr Cameron, while "that lot (the Liberal Democrats) have lost their convictions." He reminded the House that all three main parties had pledged to hold a referendum on the original EU constitution, and maintained to the last that if enough Labour and Lib Dem MPs kept their word to their constituents it was still possible to "get the referendum that the British people were promised".

However, the estimated 25 Labour and 13 Lib Dem rebels were nowhere near enough, and a subsequent vote on a motion sponsored by Labour MP Iain Davidson - at one point thought likely to attract more Labour rebels - was actually defeated by 64 votes.

Mr Brown believes the way is now clear for the ratification of the treaty, presenting Mr Cameron with the major problem of deciding whether - post parliamentary approval - to effectively commit to a re-negotiation with Europe by maintaining his referendum commitment into the next general election.

However, Conservative foreign affairs spokesman William Hague signalled his belief that the battle could yet be carried successfully to the House of Lords. Speaking after the Commons votes, he said: "This treaty will now go to the House of Lords. It is the convention that the House of Lords does not stand in the way of manifesto commitments. We hope that in this case the Lords will hold the government to their manifesto commitment. The Lib Dems' position will once again be pivotal. We will see if they follow their three-line whip in the Commons to abstain."

© 2008 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times