European Affairs

No, I do not have time. The Prime Minister will go to the European Council, where he will have difficult discussions about financial proposals that could adversely affect the City of London, and in respect of which Britain does not appear to have been very proactive in defending the British interest. We are very concerned about those proposals and should like to know what the Government intend to do about them. At that summit, the Prime Minister will probably also collude in an attempt to provide so-called guarantees so that the Irish people may be persuaded to vote twice in a referendum, whereas the people of this country have not even been allowed to vote once. We do not believe that that is a robust defence of the British interest. In fact, we believe that it is contrary to it. Labour claims to be at the heart of Europe, but it is precisely the opposite. Its Cabinet rarely debates it, and its Europe Minister is richly ignored by the Prime Minister. Now it is still seeking to deny the people a referendum on a treaty that materially affects their future. We say, "Bring on the general election." We say, "Let this argument be put", and we say, "Let the people decide."