Tony Blair is wrong – the people must decide

Tony Blair is wrong – the people must decide

The former prime minister seems to think it his job to save the British people from their own folly


The UK Telegraph
April 8, 2015


"...Who said this?

“It is time to resolve once and for all whether this country wants to be at the centre and heart of European decision making or not; time to decide whether our destiny lies as a leading partner and ally of Europe or on its margins …. Let the issue be put and let the battle be joined.”

That was Tony Blair in the House of Commons on April 20 2004. He had just announced plans to hold a referendum once agreement had been reached in the EU – and by Parliament – on a new constitution for Europe.

True, this was not an in/out referendum of the sort now being contemplated by David Cameron for 2017. But it is the way Mr Blair framed the argument back in 2004 – as an opportunity to “resolve this matter once and for all” – that is of interest because while making his first intervention in the election campaign he made the opposite case. It would, he said, be a “completely unacceptable gamble with our nation’s future” to conduct a referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU. Yet the principle enunciated by Mr Blair in the Commons in 2004 – that the people should decide – is no different to what is now being proposed.

In his speech, the former Labour leader sneered at the very idea that the country should be consulted about the EU just because 40 years have passed since they were last asked. On that basis, he said, we would have a referendum on Nato membership. But unlike the EU, Nato has not become a different institution from the one we joined. Moreover, until now no one has had the chance to vote at a general election for a party that realistically offered them a say on the matter as the Conservatives now do...."


Read the Full Article @:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/general-election-2015/11520468/Tony-Blair-is-wrong-the-people-must-decide.html

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