Wharton’s bill reveals Europhile Tories and Labour sceptics
Jonathan Lindsell, 8 July 2013
Parliament had its first chance to debate James Wharton MP’s private member’s bill, which proposes a referendum on European Union membership for 2017. Since such a referendum would be in the next parliament, the substance of Wharton’s bill is effectively meaningless – it’s constitutionally impossible to ‘bind’ a future parliament.
Nevertheless, the vote shines a light on the nuances of the Europe debate. Ed Miliband ordered his party to avoid the debate altogether or to abstain. He labelled the exercise a Conservative PR stunt designed to win over voters tempted by UKIP and to consolidate internal party unity. The Tories were on a three-line whip. Indeed, the likes of Cameron, Hague and Duncan Smith did appear in the House, even though the government cannot support the bill due to Liberal Democrat intransigence.
The vote passed 304 – 0. Within those who voted ‘Aye’ were six Labour MPs: Roger Godsiff, Kate Hoey, Kelvin Hopkins, Dennis Skinner, Graham Stringer and Gisela Stuart. This is a strange mix – Stuart supported the Iraq War and George Bush’s re-election, so is generally seen to be on the right of the party. Skinner, on the other hand, is a veteran of the hard left. Labour concerns are equally diverse, ranging from the constitutional threats discussed in David Green’s What Have We Done? to the EU’s apparent consensus on austerity and Wall St capitalism, to fears that EU rules on free movement and services harmonisation will harm British jobs.
Those six are only the tip of the iceberg. About 20 Labour MPs are members of the new ‘Labour for a Referendum’ campaign, along with Labour’s largest private donor John Mills and the Independent journalist Owen Jones. Rumours of back-room plots abound – will Ed continue to dodge the issue, or come out in favour of a referendum, possibly linked to the next General Election or even the imminent European Parliament elections?
Overshadowed by Wharton’s bill and the weekend’s British sporting success, EU events best not overlooked took place. Syed Kamall, Conservative MEP, marshalled a coalition in the European Parliament which was able to defeat controversial plans to limit fund managers’ bonus payments. Meanwhile, Theresa May has finally deported Abu Qatada after negotiating a torture-free trial in Jordan. To cap her success, she has announced plans for a wholesale rethink on human rights.
Such successes within the EU and ECHR highlights the existence of another rare group – pro-European Tories. The longrunning joke that this classification applied only to Kenneth Clarke is dead in the water: 25 Conservatives make up the ‘European Mainstream’ group, who fear that talk of renegotiation and referendum cause damaging economic and political uncertainty. Among them are Sir Malcolm Rifkind, Tim Yeo and Margot James – who is at the helm of the Europhile campaign ‘Our Biggest Market’.