Newly Re-Elected Tory Leader Calls for Radical Rethink in Europe
Wednesday, 29 November 2006
Timothy Kirkhope MEP, re-elected today as Conservative leader in Europe, used his first speech in the Parliament to urge serious reform in Europe. He said that the EU should be ashamed that 20 million unemployed still "scar our conscience" and promised that Conservatives would put renewing the European economy, not reviving a dead Constitution, as their top priority.
Mr Kirkhope said:
"Has the penny still not dropped for European leaders who today still promote the European Constitution? The Constitution is dead. It has ceased to be. It is an ex-constitution. Europe needs to move on or it will lose its way.
"Europe needs a new vision and that vision is economic power and prosperity. It needs reform and renewal. I have consistently called for a serious debate on the reforms that the EU must undertake if it is to remain a global economic player providing security and jobs for its citizens. People are more likely to respond to an EU that says: We are with you not against you, we want what you want, and we can deliver it. The 20 million unemployed, a scar on our consciences, will not respond to constitutional theorising or new power grabs by Brussels.
"Our continent is crying out for positive and pragmatic leadership."
ENDS
