Thursday, 09 September 2010 10:23
'Nine months later, here it is. The EU Referendum Campaign brings together supporters of all parties and none who believe that the question of EU membership should be settled by a popular vote. I make the full case in the main paper. The issue cuts laterally across all the parties; it cannot easily be settled at general elections; it is a matter of first-rate constitutional importance; it divides Parliament from people (only one per cent of MPs oppose EU membership, compared with around 50 per cent of their constituents); all three parties recently promised a European referendum.
Europe is, in short, the textbook example of where a plebiscite is proper. The only reason not to hold a popular ballot is because you might not like the outcome – which, in a democracy, is not a worthy objection.'
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