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European Council

I congratulate the new leader and deputy leader of the Labour party. Both of them were elected—one had a slightly stiffer contest than the other—on the ground of listening to people, which is what I want to talk about today. In his final days in office, the Prime Minister has concluded negotiations for which after this week he can never be held accountable, and he has agreed to a transfer of power from Britain to Brussels without the permission of the British people. That will be remembered as one of the most flagrant breaches of any of the promises that he has made. The Prime Minister stood at the Dispatch Box and said this about a referendum:"““Let the issue be put and let the battle be joined.””—[Official Report, 20 April 2004; Vol. 420, c. 157.]" However, his statement today did not include even a mention of the word ““referendum””. It is the promise that dare not speak its name. The Prime Minister said this about the constitution:"““What you can’t do is have a situation where you get a rejection of the treaty and then you just bring it back with a few amendments and say we will have another go.’””" Is that not exactly what he has done? That was a promise clearly made and a promise clearly broken. The Prime Minister has made three claims in rejecting a referendum. First, he has said that the substance of the treaty is different from the constitution. Secondly, he has said that we do not need a referendum, because the red lines were met. Thirdly, he has said that there is no significant transfer of power from Britain to Brussels. He is wrong on all three counts. Let us take the issue of the treaty being different from the constitution. The constitution had an EU president, a single legal personality, a Foreign Minister and the loss of the veto; the treaty has an EU president, a single legal personality, a Foreign Minister and the loss of the veto in 60 areas. Far from being dead, the constitution has been resuscitated. [Interruption.] Was not the German Chancellor telling the truth when she said that"““much of the substance has been maintained””?"