Thursday, March 06, 2008

Papers line up over the Euro Debate


Nothing divides the National press more than the European Union and thsi morning is no exception as Parliament votes not to have a referendum on the European treaty.

The usual suspects line up on both sides.

The Mail with a front page headline

A shaming day for democracy

The British people were finally denied a say on the EU constitution last night after a momentous day in the Commons.
MPs voted against holding a referendum on the biggest shift of power to Brussels for at least a decade.
This was despite pledges from both Labour and the Liberal Democrats that voters would have the chance to decide the issue.


Its leader describing the Day that Democracy died

The Sun says the Eu referendum is Brown bread

The “listening PM” ignored the demands of nine out of ten British voters and denied them the say he promised.
Mr Brown broke Labour’s 2005 general election pledge as he ordered his foot soldiers to reject a referendum.
However, 29 of his MPs rebelled and voted for a national poll.
Mealy-mouthed Lib Dems also broke their pledge to give the nation a say on the Lisbon Treaty.


And its editorial describes

it was cowardice that made Gordon Brown break his word over the EU Treaty referendum.
He reneged on his promise to hold one because he was scared of losing.
As a result, Mr Brown demeaned himself and damaged democracy


The Telegraph hasn't given up hope

Referendum campaigners admitted they had suffered a setback. But they refused to give up and said they were pinning their hopes on the House of Lords taking on the Commons and backing a referendum.
William Hague, the shadow foreign secretary, said after the vote that he hoped peers in the Upper House would reverse the Commons vote and ensure Labour and the Lib Dems honoured their election promises to hold a referendum.


Whilst affiriming in its leading article that

In an unworthy display of political cynicism, the Government ordered its own MPs to vote against one of the manifesto pledges on which they were all elected.


The Mirror supports the Prime Minister describing how Gordon Brown wins historic victory on EU treaty

The PM told the Tories: "When will you wake up to the fact that 3.5 million jobs are dependent on our membership of the EU, that 700,000 companies are trading with Europe, that 60 per cent of our trade is with Europe?"


Its editorial telling us that

Eurosceptics last night suffered a devastating defeat from which they will never recover.
By rejecting a referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon by 63 votes, the House of Commons passed a point of no return


The Independent describes

Victory for the Government in last night's vote on whether there ought to be a national referendum on the Lisbon treaty was the right result adding that

it should be quite clear to the objective observer that this treaty does not represent a shift in Britain's relationship with the European Union worthy of a referendum, no matter what the die-hard Eurosceptic lobby maintains.

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