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Labour could hold an EU referendum – but it’s too soon to say…

July 2, 2012 11:51 am

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Rachel Reeves was on the Sunday Politics yesterday, and said Labour could hold an EU referendum when Britain’s relationship with the Eurozone became clearer. That’s a point that Douglas Alexander fleshed out in the Guardian this morning:

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  • treborc

    Tory labour together then, nothing much changes.

  • Just_Another_Voter

    “Well the Prime minister seems to be all over the place…” say Rachel Reeves before saying the exact same things and being all over the place.
    Lets face it all three main parties want to keep us in the EU as that is where  future jobs and money lies for them.
    Without the EU the likes of the Kinnock cartel wouldn’t be raking in the millions after a failed political career here.

  • John Dore

    Funny that, Camerons saying exactly the same thing. This is weird.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Mike-Homfray/510980099 Mike Homfray

    There can’t be a referendum until there is :
    1. a settled picture of what the staying -in options are
    2. an alternative

    • http://www.facebook.com/matthew.blott Matthew Blott

      Of course there can be a referendum – you don’t want one because you’re terrified the British public will want to leave. The alternative is quite clear – leave the EU.

      I made this point on another thread but it’s relevant here – Cameron will eventually have to concede a referendum to assuage the Tory Right and so the other parties will follow. It would benefit Miliband if he was to come out now in favour of an in or out vote, looking bold in the process rather than playing catch up which he will be forced to do.

  • 000a000

    Cameron will promise an EU in out referendum before the next election in order to try and win back some of the UKIP vote. 

    Miliband will follow as has little choice – Labour voters want a referendum, and he will face accusations of denying the people the vote compared to the Tories. 

    It’s all politics and not on the merit of a referendum. 

  • David MacDonald

    It’s always “too soon to say”. We should have had a referendum over the Treaty of Maastricht (the French did) but it was not the right time. Then we should have had referendums on the Treaties of Nice and Amsterdam but it was “inappropriate”. Unlike us, the French had another referendum about the EU Constitution but the voted the “wrong” way so the constitution had to be rebranded as the Lisbon Treaty  which Gordon Brown signed late one evening after everyone else had gone home but, for us, still no referendum. Now the Euro Zone is in meltdown and the institutions of the EU in chaos but still we, the British people, are confronted by three political parties all equally determined that we must never be allowed to voice our opinions.
     
    To the barricades, Comrades?

  • Malcolm Rasala

    We do not need a referendum. It is a non issue. Do you witness people in the streets clamouring for a referendum? You do not. The only people fretting about a referendum are what DC calls the fruitcakes in UKIP. And of course the right wing of the Tory party. Let them stew in their own juices. UKIP hopefully will cull a significant percentage away from the Tory Party so weakening it significantly at the next election. Good for the Labour Party. Or better still the Conservative Party will fully split. Better still for Labour. DC does not want to call for a referendum. He wants to remain in the EU. As we all should. It is the intelligent sensible place for us in the 21st century going forward. And of course playing a role in Europe has been our dominant foreign policy for what 400 years. It did not do us any harm. And it is not now. But if DC is forced to call a referendum we play along and exploit every strategy we can to split the Tory party. Whip up UKIP. Whip up Conservative backbench MP’s. Let them fight it out like  ferrets in a bag. In the meantime Labour should be diligently, intelligently, comprehensively marshalling the facts for and against remaining in the EU so that come the day come the win.

  • 1earthmother2

    http://www.peoplespledge.org/ has proved itself to be a force to be reckoned with in elections.I voted no in 1975 and would like the chance to reconsider before the 5oth anniversary as I now believe in a European defence force.

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