Letter to the Editor
Wednesday, 5 November 2003
Dear Sir,
Can it be just coincidence that Chancellor Gordon Brown has chosen Guy Fawkes Day to set off his own powder-keg under Labour's EU policy?
In an article in the national press, Brown has directly contradicted Blair's position that the draft EU Constitution is "just a tidying up of the treaties". On the contrary, Brown sees very clearly, and correctly, that the Constitution undermines our fiscal and economic independence, and threatens to impose the failing EU social model on the UK.
Brown explicitly rejects moves towards "tax harmonisation and fiscal federalism", and in an astonishing fit of realism, he recognises that "contrary to previous assumptions, people are firmly rooted in their national cultures".
Labour is split down the middle on EU policy. They have a Chancellor who wants to keep control of the British economy, and a Prime Minister who wants to give it away. A Chancellor who recognises that the draft Constitution means EU federalism, and a Prime Minister who denies it.
Blair is now facing demands for a referendum on the Constitution from all quarters, including many in his own party. Gordon Brown's statement can only add extra force to those demands. The people must have a say.
Yours faithfully,
Yours faithfully,
Roger Helmer MEP
East Midlands Conservative Party
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