The Lisbon Treaty remains a bone of contention in the UK

On Wednesday, March 5th UK MPs will vote on a Tory amendment to the Bill to ratify the Lisbon treaty. If the amendment is passed, a referendum might be held. David Clark, fromer government adviser, comments: "The real mistake was to have offered a referendum at all, for the constitution was also a minimalist document and should have been dealt with as such. ... What could be wrong with giving the people a say? Surely the government has only changed its mind [Since Tony Blair promised a referendum] because it thinks it will lose? In fact, there is nothing democratic about allowing one or two members of a club of 27 to block change wanted by the rest. What opponents of Lisbon are asking for is not democracy at all, but the right of a single-country veto to frustrate the will of the majority. It is understandable that they should do so because they know that any properly democratic system would have approved the old constitution, never mind Lisbon."

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