War in Europe?

The government has today dismissed calls for a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, despite 88% of British locals unofficially polled in 10 constituencies wanting one. The bill, signed in December by Gordon Brown, was designed as a replacement to the EU constitution, which was dismissed by French and Dutch voters in 2005.

A row has broken out due to the fact that the government promised a referendum on the original European constitution, but has not promised one on this treaty. Government ministers argue that the bill amends existing treaties and is not needed.

Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, who called for a debate, and groups such as the Conservatives and UKIP see it as virtually the same as the scrapped constitution, so should also cleary require a referendum. The only way a referendum could happen is if MP's vote in favour of holding one in a couple of days time.

More protests like the one pictured at the top have continued outside the Houses of Parliament, today for example, protesters scaled a crane in Parliament Square to get their message across.

Across the blogosphere, the ongoing European referendum debate has produced some interesting coverage. Wonko's world, a blog written by a man who sees himself as a "foreigner in my own country", comments on today's protest and on a government he clearly doesn't trust:

What kind of a sham of democracy do we live in when people with a legitimate protest feel that they need to break the law in order to get noticed?

A Very British Dude goes further, believing he is speaking for everyone when he says:

Listen, politicos: We, the peoples of Europe, do not want the constitution or its bastard offspring, and have demonstrated this at every turn.

The Devil's Kitchen, who quoted the British Dude in his post on the EU row agrees, and, in very colourful language, goes on to say that those who don't see a need for a referendum, are, well.. let's just say wrong:

As I have pointed out, innumerable times, those who claim that we should not have a referendum because we live in a representative democracy are total c***s.

It is because we live in a representative democracy that we should have a referendum. Because, when 98% of those MPs represented themselves to the voters, they promised a referendum.

An arguement for the EU treaty are few and far between, in fact, Daniel Hannan of The Telegraph asks in his blog for:

Some decent, well-sourced, specific arguments in favour of EU membership. No airy generalizations, please. No fibs about how the EU is “coming our way”. What I want is a simple case for why we should be part of the EU that actually exists. Over to you.

There was plenty of responses to Hannan's article who disagreed with, but the main point on the other side appeared to be that the referendum is misunderstood. Ed Clarke, argues that:

Unless I have misunderstood this process entirely, it is merely a formalisation of the process already in existence. There are plenty of points along the line at which countries can say "no" to any changes.

However, he agrees with a referendum, but more on the issue that:

I think we should have a referendum based on voters being informed of the actual content of the treaty. Far too much of the debate (on both sides of the argument) has been based on half-truths and inaccuracies. Why doesn't the EU or the UK government put a consolidated version of the treaties up on its website so that we can all have a proper read of it?

Personally, I believe that is it the government's democractic responsobility to hold a referendum. The reason they aren't is clear: they are scared that they will be defeated; but surely this is all part of the democractic process. Maybe if the government did a better job of telling people exactly what was going on, they'd come round to the idea. But if after proper education the public really didn't want it, the people have spoken and their decision should be valid.

Hopefully if a referendum is voted for by ministers, the contents of the treaty will be presented to the public in a simple way.

Before I leave it there, here's a campaign video for the "I Want A Referendum" group, who are spearheading the campaign for a referendum.