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		Labour MEPs challenged on EU "constitution" Friday, 4 October 2002 East Midlands Tory MEP Roger Helmer has challenged his Labour colleagues to come clean on plans for a European Constitution. Yesterday the Party of European Socialists (PES), of which East Midlands Labour MEPs Mel Read and Phillip Whitehead are members, published its submission to the European Convention. The Convention has been set up in Brussels to draft a Constitutional Treaty for the EU. Its Chairman, French Ex-President Giscard d'Estaing, has proposed changing the EU's name to "The United States of Europe". Proposals in the PES submission go way beyond Labour party policy, so Helmer wants to know if his Labour colleagues support their British party or their European party. The PES submission would abandon the British veto in huge areas of policy, leaving the UK forced to accept policies it may not agree with in asylum and immigration, in justice and law enforcement, and in foreign affairs. Under the new proposals, it would be difficult for Tony Blair to build an international coalition against Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, for example. The Socialist proposal could lead to common taxation, common defence sourcing and Europe-wide lists in EU elections. According to Roger Helmer, it represents a huge step towards a unitary state of Europe, in which Britain would be a mere off-shore province. Speaking in Brussels yesterday, Roger Helmer said: "East Midlands voters have a right to know whether Read and Whitehead are planning to hand over control of our country to Brussels. I challenge them to say clearly whether they support the Labour government's position, or the much more radical and integrationist PES proposals".