FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

27th January 2008

EU CONSTITUTION

"Should the United Kingdom approve the treaty establishing a constitution for the European Union?". That was the question put to the electorate in 2006 and 68% of voters said NO. So why is the government consistently abiding by every section, paragraph and sentence within the document? Why are elected government ministers sitting on the EU constitutional committee, helping to further add to what is an already weighty document?

We asked one government minister those very questions today and were shocked at his answer.

"What the electorate said they don't want, is an approved treaty. Some of them may have thought they were making a decision on whether they wanted an EU constitution or not, but that was not the decision they were making", says Malcolm Blows, assistant director of the constitutional committee.

"The question was: do you want to approve the treaty? The answer was no. If you don't want an approved treaty, then you have a constitution that is used as it is now. If there was some uncertainty in people's minds, well...," he shrugs.

Constitutional committee chairman Bob Getsome, also leader of Stackten Council, is dismissive of suggestions it has no democratic mandate.

"I'm not interested in that issue. The committee will carry on the work that it has been doing, the same as the other member countries are doing. That's all I'm saying on the issue," he says.

Catalyst

The continuing existence and the current behaviour of members of the unelected North East of England Regional Assembly.

Hat tips to Neil Herron, Jules and the CEP.