Tories in disarray over Lisbon treaty
By Ian Dunt
The Conservatives seem in total disarray over the Lisbon treaty, after shadow business secretary Kenneth Clarke said the party would not scrap it once they are in power.
David Cameron has made opposition to the treaty – and support for a referendum – a central plank of his party’s European agenda.
But Mr Clarke confirmed yesterday that if Irish voters accept the treaty in an upcoming referendum, making it fully ratified, the Tories would not reopen the issue.
“If the Irish referendum endorses the treaty and ratification comes into effect, then our settled policy is quite clear – that the treaty will not be reopened,” he told BBC’s Politics Show.
“I don’t think anybody in Europe is in the mood for any more tedious debates about treaties, which have gone on for far too long, which is why this needs to be resolved.”
Mr Clarke, an arch Europhile, did say Mr Cameron would seek to negotiate some powers back to Britain, probably centring on the social chapter, which John Major opted out of in 1991, only for Tony Blair to opt into it in 1997.
“I think there are some other member states who think it is perfectly legitimate to start considering whether or not something like the opt-out to the old social chapter might not be reconsidered,” Mr Clarke said.
Bill Cash, a veteran Eurosceptic Tory, accused Mr Clarke of taking Tory policy into his own hands.
“It appears that Kenneth Clarke has reinvented unilaterally Conservative party policy on the whole of the Lisbon treaty and European policy.”
David Miliband, foreign secretary, said: “Conservative policy on Europe is now in disarray. Kenneth Clarke knows that Tory policy ‘not to let matters rest’ on the Lisbon treaty is hare-brained and dangerous for British business, but his leader and shadow foreign secretary are committed to it.
A Tory spokesman tried to clarify Mr Clarke’s comments, saying: “As Kenneth Clarke explained, if the Lisbon treaty is ratified and in force across the EU by the time of the election of a Conservative government, we would not let matters rest there.
“We have consistently made clear that the return of social and employment legislation to UK control would be a major goal for a Conservative government.”
Meanwhile, Mr Cameron will face further problems this week when the scale of opposition to his breaking away from the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) becomes clear.
The European parliament may block the move, with leading assembly figures saying any new group would need to show members have a deep-seated political “affinity”.
That may be a difficult thing to prove if Mr Cameron wishes to retain his policy agenda in Britain. Some of the parties he plans to set up a grouping with are fiercely homophobic and far to the right of Mr Cameron’s domestic rhetoric.
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