cruise4
10-12-2007, 08:35 PM
Seventy-three per cent of Britons want a vote on the EU treaty
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=500937&in_page_id=1770
BENEDICT BROGAN
UK Daily Mail
Monday December 10, 2007
More than two thirds of voters want Britain to either renegotiate the new European treaty or pull out of the union, a poll will show today.
The survey is a blow to Gordon Brown's attempts to play down the significance of the constitutional agreement.
It will also revive debate over the UK's role in Europe 72 hours before the reform treaty is signed in Lisbon.
The ICM poll for Global Vision, a eurosceptic campaign group, shows that 73 per cent of voters still want the Prime Minister to grant a referendum on the issue.
EU leaders are due in Lisbon on Thursday to mark the signing of the treaty which critics say is a threat to British sovereignty.
An administrative blunder by Downing Street has left Mr Brown facing an embarrassing choice between snubbing Parliament or missing the ceremony.
The Prime Minister's office agreed months ago that he would make his first appearance before the Commons liaison committee on Thursday morning.
But that two-and-a-half hour question and answer session coincides with the ceremonies in Portugal.
A spokesman said efforts were being made to allow Mr Brown to fulfill both commitments.
He added: "He does want to go but it may not be possible."
Foreign Secretary David Miliband is expected to endorse the treaty on Britain's behalf.
Heads of government do not generally sign EU treaties but usually watch their foreign ministers doing so.
This procedure was followed by Tony Blair for the signing of the Nice and Amsterdam treaties and by John Major for the 1992 Maastricht Treaty.
The Tories accused Mr Brown of staging a "vanishing act" to avoid attending the Lisbon ceremony.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=500937&in_page_id=1770
BENEDICT BROGAN
UK Daily Mail
Monday December 10, 2007
More than two thirds of voters want Britain to either renegotiate the new European treaty or pull out of the union, a poll will show today.
The survey is a blow to Gordon Brown's attempts to play down the significance of the constitutional agreement.
It will also revive debate over the UK's role in Europe 72 hours before the reform treaty is signed in Lisbon.
The ICM poll for Global Vision, a eurosceptic campaign group, shows that 73 per cent of voters still want the Prime Minister to grant a referendum on the issue.
EU leaders are due in Lisbon on Thursday to mark the signing of the treaty which critics say is a threat to British sovereignty.
An administrative blunder by Downing Street has left Mr Brown facing an embarrassing choice between snubbing Parliament or missing the ceremony.
The Prime Minister's office agreed months ago that he would make his first appearance before the Commons liaison committee on Thursday morning.
But that two-and-a-half hour question and answer session coincides with the ceremonies in Portugal.
A spokesman said efforts were being made to allow Mr Brown to fulfill both commitments.
He added: "He does want to go but it may not be possible."
Foreign Secretary David Miliband is expected to endorse the treaty on Britain's behalf.
Heads of government do not generally sign EU treaties but usually watch their foreign ministers doing so.
This procedure was followed by Tony Blair for the signing of the Nice and Amsterdam treaties and by John Major for the 1992 Maastricht Treaty.
The Tories accused Mr Brown of staging a "vanishing act" to avoid attending the Lisbon ceremony.