West residents would be given first say on Europe referendum
The Westcountry could hold the first in a series of local referendums on Britain's membership of the European Union, it emerged yesterday.
A cross-party campaign has announced plans for a vote, on whether to hold a referendum, in one of 13 short-listed Parliamentary constituencies in April.
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The West Devon and Torridge seat, held by Conservative MP Geoffrey Cox, is one of the seats under consideration for the first poll.
The People's Pledge campaign, which has collected 100,000 signatures supporting a nationwide vote, says the initial referendum could be followed by a further 10 votes later this year and then another 100 next year. As part of the two-stage process, the public could then be asked an "in-out"-style question on membership of the EU.
While the votes will be unofficial and non-binding, it will pile pressure on the Government to act.
The campaign includes eurosceptic Conservative backbenchers, but some Labour MPs also want Britain's relationship with Brussels to be re-configured.
EU enthusiasts also want a referendum to demonstrate the vast economic cost of pulling out.
The referendums have been characterised as having the feel of a by-election, with voters bombarded with leaflets and subjected to door-to-door canvassing. Town hall-style public meetings are also planned.
Besides West Devon and Torridge, seats under consideration for the first ballot include Liberal Democrat Cabinet Minister Chris Huhne's Eastleigh seat, the Scottish National Party's Western Isles constituency and Conservative backbencher Louise Mensch's Corby seat. Ian McKenzie, People's Pledge communications director, said: "The last time Britain had a referendum on whether we should stay in the Common Market was in 1975, since when it has changed beyond recognition from an economic to a political union.
"A referendum in the next parliament would determine the modern, settled view of the British people."
There appears to be an appetite for an "in-out" referendum in the region. An exclusive Western Morning News poll last March revealed nearly 70 per cent of people from across the South West wanted a say on whether Britain should remain part of the EU.
The People's Pledge is supported by some of the 17 Labour MPs who have joined former Labour Foreign Secretary Jack Straw in calling for the repatriation of £4.2 billion EU structural funds to Britain. The Open Europe think-tank last week calculated this would spell an extra £250 million being lavished on Cornwall and Devon.
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by Apoxonem
Tuesday, February 07 2012, 12:20PM
“I note that the lie that the EU has kept the peace in Europe is still being trotted out. The architects of the EU in the 1920's, among them Gustav Stresemann, certainly thought that by creating a United States of Europe there would be peace but that is not what happened. After WWII there was a very real fear of invasion by the USSR; Stalin certainly had plans to provoke WWIII, fortunately he died before they were put into operation. The fear of Soviet invasion gave rise to NATO. NATO turned former enemies into allies. It has been NATO that has kept the peace in Europe definitely NOT the EU.”
by accom
Thursday, February 02 2012, 10:42PM
“No, I just think there is less of a risk of being at war.”
by paulmh66
Thursday, February 02 2012, 6:03PM
“@ accom
So you think then that we cannot be at peace with Europe without the EU?
Nuff said.”
by paulronson
Thursday, February 02 2012, 4:15PM
“Accom,
you are right, the two are distinct and sepearate organisations. However, my point still stands in that to say that the council of europe is not political is naive and to think that it is only concerned with ECHR is even more so. Just as the EU does get involved in ECHR matters the CoE is heavily involved in issues around further european integration on which it collaborates heavily with EU institutions, especially in the areas of law, health, education and national indentity.
Regarding your other comment around what people wished for. True we have had peaceful times. However, this is mainly because the main protagonists of the war in Europe, and especially Germany, could barely afford to fight another war until relatively recently. Additionally, the increased trading ties that having existed between European nations since the end of the war have inevitably helped.
In any case, I would think that most people commenting on this article are not seeking for a total 'pullout' from Europe, rather a renegotiation of the terms of our membership, such that they are more aligned to the policies that people thought they were saying yes to in the 1975 referendum on joining the EEC. These people were not agreeing to ever increasing legislative, cultural and social integration pursued by the european project that successive uk governments have allowed us to be party to without ever asking via a subsequent referendum”
by accom
Thursday, February 02 2012, 3:31PM
“Quoting Basileus:
"we welcomed those escapimg disease, tyranny and war"
That is very commendable. It's a shame the British people couldn't do the same for the immigrants arriving from colonies in the 1960s and 70s for exactly the same reasons. They were escaping the disease and tyranny to which Britain was a major contributor by creating poverty and classes, yet when they arrived here even ordinary people turned into racist thugs and wanted them to go home.”
by accom
Thursday, February 02 2012, 3:29PM
“I agree that our area should not be an area selected for any referendum on EU membership because as we have seen, the extreme views here are not representative of mainstream UK opinion. Torridge & W. Devon has a proportion of older people far higher than average, older people vote more, and the vast majority of them are autopilot anti-EU without being able to provide a coherent and sensible reason why (the 'we can survive on own own' argument doesn't wash, because we can't, nor does the one saying WWII heroes would be spinning in their graves at what Europe has become, because it has become exactly what people wished for at the end of the war, i.e. united and peaceful, for which we have the EU to thank). They need to have just an 'average' area in terms of age of population, ethnicity, income, rural-urban balance etc, which we most certainly are not in any of those aspects. The only reason Western Europe has been peaceful since 1945 because of the formation of the EU, in particular involving France and Germany, where customs barriers were removed and the two nations could not declare war on each other.”
by Basileus
Thursday, February 02 2012, 2:54PM
“Accom, I do not support UKIP or any other politcal party. I refer to your earlier comment when you refer to Britain abusing the resources of the Commonwealth. I think you will find that that has been far more effectively done by African dictators such as Mugabe in Zimbabwe. I live in a former British colony and let me tell you that under British administration we welcomed those escapimg disease, tyranny and war. And the people who live here now are happy that we did.”
by accom
Thursday, February 02 2012, 2:41PM
“So basically anyone who's not a UKIP supported talks *****? How constructive.”
by Basileus
Thursday, February 02 2012, 2:20PM
“Accom talks a lot of ****”
by accom
Thursday, February 02 2012, 2:14PM
“I'm not talking about the European Council (of course that is highly political), I'm talking about the Council of Europe. Completely different entities. The European Council is an EU institution in Brussels, the Council of Europe is a body that has nothing to do with the EU and based in Strasbourg, and it is in charge of the European Court of Human Rights. When you talk about the "European Council", you are talking about the 27 heads of state/government of the Member States.
And as the last poster states, if we leave the EU and still have the same problems, who will the you blame then?”