EU superstate: 80% of us want referendum
FOUR out of five Britons want a referendum if Tony Blair agrees to a controversial new European Union treaty.
An opinion poll by ICM Research found that 80 per cent of voters want a say about Britain’s future in Europe, and only 15 per cent disagree.
Nearly two thirds are against the plan for a new President of Europe, a post that outgoing Prime Minister Tony Blair has been tipped for.
The survey was published last night, as Mr Blair prepared to fly to Brussels tomorrow for his final European Union summit. The gathering of European leaders will be dominated by the treaty plan, designed to replace the failed EU constitution.
It’s findings will intensify pressure on the Government to hold a nationwide vote if he does agree to the proposed new treaty, which will hand many more decision-making powers to EU chiefs.
Mr Blair is at loggerheads with his successor, Chancellor Gordon Brown, over the treaty. The Prime Minister has ruled out a referendum but the Chancellor has indicated that a vote might be held after his takeover in Downing Street next week.
Mr Blair is at loggerheads with his successor, Chancellor Gordon Brown, over the treaty.
In an indication of the increasingly chaotic negotiations, the pair were kept in separate rooms during a phone conference call with French President Nicolas Sarkozy yesterday about the treaty proposals.
Officials confirmed that Mr Blair and Mr Brown remained in different offices during the call from Paris, Mr Blair’s spokesman blaming equipment problems.
But the pair were given a stark warning, in the ICM poll, of public hostility towards the proposed treaty, commissioned by the Eurosceptic foreign-affairs think tank Global Vision.
The poll showed that 58 per cent of Britons are opposed to one of the main provisions of the treaty, the pledge to introduce a permanent EU president.
A total of 34 per cent supported the idea.
Global Vision director Ruth Lea said: “Tony Blair promised the British people a referendum on the original Constitution and neither he nor Gordon Brown should renege on this promise.”
Earlier proposals for an EU constitution were ditched, after rejection in referendums in France and Holland. But supporters, led by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country holds the sixth-month EU presidency, still want some form of agreement to streamline the workings of the 27-nation union.
Critics claim the proposed treaty is essentially a new version of the constitution. Possible changes to the EU voting system could mean British objections to law changes being overruled. Mr Blair’s spokesman said yesterday: “We do not believe a referendum will be necessary.”
But Mr Brown said he would not hesitate to order a referendum “if it were necessary”.
He added: “I suspect that the best deal for Britain will be one where we will get what we want at this summit.”
Last night, EU Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso appeared to warn Mr Blair not to block the treaty. He said: “Of course all member states have the same right to put their objections and problems. But please avoid appearing as blocking. This is not intelligent. This is not in your interest.”
