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The Times

Get tough on Europe, Tories tell Cameron

Lord Lawson, who was Mrs Thatcher's Chancellor, is still tough on Europe The Times

Sam Coates, Anushka Asthana

Last updated September 4 2011 11:29PM

Lord Lawson of Blaby, the former Conservative Chancellor, tells David Cameron today that the time has come for Britain to declare “enough is enough” on Europe and tear up the Lisbon treaty.

Writing in The Times, the Tory grandee argues that a torn up treaty should be replaced with a constitution in which the drive for an ever-closer union is “explicitly abandoned”.

Lord Lawson launches a blistering attack on the architects of the euro, accusing them of “grotesque irresponsibility” for embarking on this “misbegotten and predictably disastrous venture”.

His call comes as Mr Cameron is facing a battle with his party over plans to push for a two-speed Europe, amid growing fears that Britain could suffer if eurozone countries move towards closer political union.

The Prime Minister and Chancellor have promised to look for ways to use the eurozone crisis to negotiate looser ties with Europe, after a summer in which leaders took emergency steps to head off fears of insolvency in countries such as Greece, Portugal and Cyprus.

But in a signal of unease in the Tory party, its MPs will embark today on an attempt to rally Eurosceptics at a Westminster conference.

The event, on European reform, is being organised by Bill Cash, the tireless anti-Brussels campaigner and Conservative MP. The participants include Jacob Rees-Mogg, a new Conservative MP, and Bernard Jenkin, the Tory chairman of the Public Administration Committee.

Mr Cash argues that any attempts by Britain to renegotiate our relationship with Europe will be blocked by the Liberal Democrats, while closer economic governance in the eurozone will create a “critical mass and an unlevel playing field” meaning eurozone countries commit Britain to unwelcome economic and business regulations.

Alongside the conference, Mr Cash has written a pamphlet in which he argues that closer political ties will not be enough to save the eurozone since employment, redundancy and social laws continue to choke growth. This will mean “further debt crises which will be followed by further bailouts, but there will be no money to pay for them.

“We are at a crossroads and we are taking the wrong turn by endorsing fiscal union and creating two Europes without renegotiating Europe, without renegotiating the treaties, without creating an association of nation states — an Efta \ plus — led by the United Kingdom, which is turning a vision of Europe into chaos,” he writes.

Mr Jenkin said the problem was that the Government was completely unprepared for any kind of renegotiation. He warned about the impact of the eurozone forging closer, fiscal ties. “The consequence of the euro area effectively becoming more and more like a state could be very dramatic for Britain. There ought to be a referendum on this question.”

Europe is a key concern for the vast majority of Tories, according to Tim Montgomerie, editor of ConservativeHome. He said that every time his website polled party members, 80 per cent or 90 per cent did not like the current situation. “The Tory party has become overwhelmingly Eurosceptic,” Mr Montgomerie said. But he added that although members had a “wish-list” on Europe they were happy that the Government was focusing its attention on the deficit, health and education.

Senior government figures point out that Britain does 40 per cent of its trade with Europe, but insist that ministers will remain on the lookout for opportunities to claw back powers. They decline to name any areas under examination, but point out that Mr Cameron has already succeeded in advancing Britain’s interests, citing the written promise that Britain will avoid future eurozone bailouts.

Further market chaos this autumn is expected by some government figures, however, as traders stress-test the Franco-German deal negotiated over the summer.

Ministers believe that closer integration is likely to take up to a decade — much longer than the markets would demand — and that the lengthy process of treaty change is unlikely to begin until after the German elections in 2013.

This comes in a critical week for the eurozone, which will find out on Wednesday whether the German Constitutional Court approves the revisions to the emergency eurozone bailout fund agreed this summer. The court is likely to give its conditional approval.