Blair brands referendum demands 'absurd'

Updated 18.53 Mon Jun 25 2007

Keywords: European Union treaty, David Cameron, Tony Blair

Tony Blair has dismissed Tory leader David Cameron's demands for a referendum on the new European Union treaty as "absurd".

The Prime Minister told MPs that there would be no "vast transfer of power" to Brussels as a result of the deal agreed at the weekend by EU leaders.

"He has agreed to a transfer of power from Britain to Brussels without the permission of the British people" - Tory leader David Cameron

He insisted that all Britain's "red line" positions had been preserved.

But in raucous House of Commons exchanges, Mr Blair was accused by Tory leader David Cameron of a "flagrant" breach of his previous promise to hold a referendum on the EU constitution.

Mr Cameron said that the new treaty preserved many of the key elements of the constitutional treaty abandoned two years ago after it was rejected by voters in France and the Netherlands.

These included the creation of a new European president and "foreign minister", the establishment of the EU as a legal entity as well as the loss of the veto in more than 60 areas, he said.

A new "ratchet clause" would enable further erosion of the British veto without the need for a new treaty, Mr Cameron added.

He said: "In his final days in office the Prime Minister has concluded negotiations for which after this week he can never be held accountable.

"He has agreed to a transfer of power from Britain to Brussels without the permission of the British people.

"This will be remembered as one of the most flagrant breaches of any of the promises he has made."

But Mr Blair, with his soon-to-be successor Gordon Brown sitting alongside him, insisted that the concept of a constitution had been abandoned and that what was agreed was no more than an "amending treaty".

He acknowledged that there were 49 articles extending majority voting and scrapping the veto, but said that many did not apply to Britain while others were "minor and technical".

The Prime Minister said that Britain had retained full control over its foreign policy and criminal justice and social security systems.

"The idea that this involves some vast transfer from the UK to Brussels is completely and utterly absurd," he said.