The European Union (Amendment) Bill is currently going through Parliament. It is vital to amend it so that the peoples of Britain have a referendum on a measure which will have a profound impact on our future. The Bill is currently in its committee stage in the House of Commons, where amendments to secure a referendum are likely to be considered later this month. Trade Unionists Against the EU Constitution along with the Democracy Movement and Open Europe have organised a Lobby of Parliament on 27th February. You can help to demand a referendum by asking your MP to sign early day motion 597 put down by Kelvin Hopkins MP and demanding they support a referendum on the EU reform treaty. Go to http://www.tuaeuc.org for more information.

TIME IS RUNNING OUT.

The New Labour government is determined to resist a referendum, despite its General Election manifesto pledge in 2005 (see below). Although Labour rebels will join the Tories and the SNP to back an amendment, there is no clear majority in favour of one.

Crucial to winning a Commons vote is to put sufficient pressure on other Labour MPs AND on Lib Dem and Plaid Cymru MPs who have yet to commit themselves to supporting a referendum despite the election pledges of their parties at the last General Election.

Therefore we are urging Party members and allies to write to their MPs immediately, demanding that they support a referendum on the EU Reform Treaty when a vote is taken in the House of Commons.

The main argument being used by opponents of a referendum is that their election pledge was made in relation to the EU Constitution as originally proposed, and which was subsequently defeated in referendums by the people of France and the Netherlands . The new Reform Treaty (also called the Treaty of Lisbon) is, they claim, substantially different and not as far-reaching as the previous EU Constitutional Treaty. So their pledge no longer applies.

This is a fundamentally dishonest case, designed to avoid defeat should the peoples of Britain have the opportunity to express their wide-ranging opposition to any further steps towards a United States of Europe.