London Evening Standard/London
Gordon Brown yesterday ridiculed David Cameron for breaking his “cast-iron guarantee” of an EU referendum as the Tory leader finally confirmed his U-turn on Europe.
The prime minister hit out ahead of Cameron announcing he would not stage a direct poll on the Lisbon Treaty, which transfers key powers from London to Brussels.
Cameron was braced for a Eurosceptic backlash against his decision to dump a referendum.
When he was facing a snap general election in 2007, he had told The Sun: “I give this cast-iron guarantee: if I become PM, a Conservative government will hold a referendum on any EU treaty that emerges.”
During a raucous Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday, former home secretary David Blunkett said Cameron’s pledge turned out to be made out of “plywood” rather than cast iron.To Labour cheers, Brown said: “We will not make iron-cast guarantees that are broken. Where we have made promises, we will continue to deliver on them, unlike some other people.”
He later pointed out that Cameron had used the phrase “cast-iron” to describe the Tories’ determination to reform the NHS.
But Cameron denied that his party was in “turmoil”. “Not at all,” he said. “The party wants us to have a fresh approach in Europe, but above all the vote we need is a vote to get rid of a government that has completely let people down.”
Cameron came under fire from Eurosceptic MPs and think-tanks as he made clear he would now only hold a referendum on possible future EU treaties. Lorraine Mullally, of lobby group Open Europe, said this was a “completely meaningless” pledge. |
