EU referendum question revealed
The Government has unveiled the wording of the referendum question on whether the UK should adopt the proposed new European Constitution.
Tony Blair last year conceded that the British public should have the opportunity to vote on the question, along with other major countries like France and Spain.
The question reads: “Should the United Kingdom approve the treaty establishing a constitution for the European Union?”
It is contained in a new bill, published today by Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, which will both enable a referendum on the constitution and its ratification.
The Electoral Commission will be considering the wording of the question to assess whether it “presents the options clearly, simply and neutrally”, in line with their responsibilities under the Political Parties Elections and Referendums Act 2000 to oversee referendums. Any recommendations it makes will be considered by Parliament during the bill’s passage.
The Conservatives though complained that there should have been two separate bills published: one to ratify the constitution, and one to enable a referendum.
Shadow Foreign Secretary Michael Ancram, said: “The referendum question seems straight forward, but the fact that the Government has slipped approval of this dangerous Constitution, which the great majority of British people oppose, in with the bill to let them have their say, is an underhand trick. They are two separate issues. There should be two separate bills. It is typical that Mr Blair wants to confuse the two.”
Given the already packed legislative agenda this year, a vote is unlikely before the next general election, with the most likely date in the summer of 2006.
The bill, and the referendum, is likely to provoke fierce campaigning. While its proponents argue that the constitution is a tidying up exercise necessary in a Europe of 25 states, its opponents claim that in signing up Britain would be giving up sovereign powers to Brussels.
