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Our case is best summed up by the following letter from Stuart Wheeler to all Members of Parliament on 1st March 2008:
Dear MP,
As the Commons debates a referendum on the European constitution, this is an important week for Parliamentary democracy
and for the standing of our politicians.
In April 2004, Tony Blair announced that the EU constitution would be put to a referendum. "Let the people have the
final say by way of a referendum...if we are to make the case... we will have to make it to the British people." Mr Blair
was emphatic. "There is no question of any constitutional treaty going through without the express consent of the British
people...we will have a referendum."
Indeed, he went further. "What you cannot do is get a rejection of the Treaty and bring it back with a few amendments
and say 'have another go.' You cannot do that. If the people vote no, they vote no."
Mr Blair might have been describing the way in which the Lisbon treaty was drafted. No-one could seriously argue that
it is significantly different from the original version.
At the time, everyone believed the Prime Minister. Before the 2005 election, all three major Parties promised a referendum.
As a result, the EU constitution was not an electoral issue.
Everyone in politics has a duty to rebut public cynicism about our institutions, which has been growing in recent years.
There is one obvious way of tackling this problem. Governments must keep faith with the voters.
Referendums are contentious. Some would claim that over recent decades, they have become part of our way of doing things.
Others insist they are un-British and run counter to the spirit of Parliamentary democracy. That debate will continue. But
one point is surely beyond dispute.
Honesty is not contentious. This Government made a promise. It is obliged to honour that promise. If it finds a referendum
distasteful, it could always hold an election.
In the end, this all comes down to a simple point. Like the rest of us, the Government should keep its word. I invite
you to help it to do so.
Stuart Wheeler
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