Brussels, 19/10/2011 (Agence Europe) - UK members of parliament will vote on 27 October on whether to hold a referendum, in May 2013, on the country's continued membership of the EU. The decision to hold a debate and a vote on a referendum was taken by a parliamentary committee on Tuesday 18 October, after a 100,000 signature petition calling for a plebiscite on this matter was handed in to the government. “This House calls upon the Government to introduce a Bill in the next session of Parliament to provide for the holding of a national referendum on whether the UK should: (a) remain a member of the EU on the current terms; (b) leave the EU; (c) renegotiate the terms of its membership in order to create a new relationship based on trade and co-operation”, reads the motion.
This consultative vote, the result of which will not be binding, has been engineered by the Eurosceptics, fired by the crisis in the eurozone. Most political commentators agree that there is little chance of its success, because of the way the numbers stack up in parliament and because of Prime Minister David Cameron's opposition. “What most people want in this country is not actually to leave the EU, but to reform the EU and make sure that the balance of powers between a country like Britain and Europe is better”, Cameron said at the Conservative party conference in the autumn. He also pointed out on a number of occasions that 40% of UK exports are to the eurozone and that an end to the euro would be “very bad” for the UK.
Cameron called on Conservative MPs to follow the government line. Some 50 of his MPs have, however, indicated that they intend to vote to hold the referendum. A rise in Euroscepticism within his party would put Cameron in some difficulty and could put the Conservatives at odds with their largely Europhile Liberal Democrat coalition partners. (CG/transl.rt)