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Future of Europe

Plenary Speech - Wednesday, 28th November 2007

Mr. President,

The Lisbon Treaty, also known as the Renamed Constitution, is fundamental to the future of the EU. This is the Constitution that was decisively rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005, and which we are now seeking to force through without the consent of the people.

Across the 27 member-states, opinion polls show that a majority of citizens want a referendum on the Treaty. In the UK, 80% want a referendum, and two thirds would vote NO. Yet our government denies us the vote it solemnly pledged in its election manifesto.

The contempt we show for public opinion makes a mockery of our claim to be a Union based on democracy.

Over and over again, constituents tell me they voted in 1975 for a free trade area, not political union.

It is time to dismantle the supranational political structures of the EU, and return to the simple trading group which the British people were promised in 1972.