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No Time to go Wobbly on Rebate
Tuesday May 24, 2005
Tony Blair's refusal to rule out negotiating Britain's rebate from the European Union shows that the Labour Government cannot be trusted on Europe any more than Labour MEPs can be trusted to follow the Government's policies, Timothy Kirkhope MEP, Leader of Conservatives in the European Parliament, said today.
Mr Kirkhope said:
"The allure of securing his epitaph from the EU and leaving Gordon Brown to cope with the fiscal consequences is clearly something on Tony Blair's mind. It seems obvious that he would be happy to wash his hands of the tiresome political difficulty of standing up for Britain in the EU.
"While Jack Straw spins one line, Tony Blair sells another. He wants his fellow heads of government to know that there is room for manoeuvre on the rebate, while giving the appearance at home that he will stand firm.
"Not only is Britain's EU rebate fully justified, it goes some way towards addressing the anomalies in a budget system under which Britain still pays a hugely disproportionate amount into EU coffers.
"If Tony Blair is not prepared to make the rebate a "red line" issue, we should not have much confidence that he will make the overall EU budget such an issue either. A ceiling of one per cent of gross national income must be non-negotiable.
"The Prime Minister should take clear positions on Europe as the UK's presidency of the EU approaches. If necessary, he must be prepared to wield the New Labour equivalent of Margaret Thatcher's handbag to defend Britain's interests. Jacques Chirac seems to have no problem getting his way in Europe when it matters."
ENDS
