Thursday, 6 March 2008

Prime Minister Gordon Brown survives calls for a referendum on the European Union Reform Treaty

In 2005, all parties pledged to hold a referendum on an EU constitution. However, the EU constitution has now become the new Lisbon European Union Treaty. As a result, Gordon Brown stated that because this was no longer a constitutional issue, a referendum would not need to be held. Yesterday, the Conservative and Labour backbencher's calls for a referendum were defeated as MPs voted against calls for a parliamentary motion for a referendum and supported Gordon Brown's claims. However the Conservatives claim that the modified Lisbon Treaty is not all that different from the past EU Constitution and that Labour and the Liberal Democrats are running away from their promises to hold a referendum.

Despite the motion not getting passed, the Liberal Democrats saw thirteen of their MPs go against their leader's calls for abstention, three of which have stepped down from the Liberal Democrat frontbench as a result.

The majority of people in the UK now want to debate the European Union and feel that issues such as the Lisbon Treaty should be explained more comprehensively to them. However, many feel that Labour is not willing to risk such referendums given the history of the UK to lambast and to use the EU as spitting cup when things are going wrong and to praise their Nation state when things have gone according to their interests. With this impulsive love-hate relationship in mind, it will be sometime before any Prime Minister in the UK has the courage to open up the truth about the European Union.

Condoleeza Rice visits Israel and gets a renewed promise for peace talks

The Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, has managed to get a renewed commitment from Israel and Palestine to restart peace talks. However, more rockets are being fired into Israel and more Israeli bombs are killing innocent civilians in Gaza. In an historic area of war and antipathy, much more is needed than an ambiguous commitment to a future peace talk. The international community must confront the real causes of this conflict rather than the consquences. Only time will tell if the international community is prepared to give peace or chance or would rather not risk their political relationships.

Morgan Francois Minchin
europeinterconnected press team.