On Monday afternoon, I was in Parliament to hear the Prime Minister’s statement updating the House on the EU Summit. In my view, it was a robust defence of this Government’s decision to exercise Britain’s veto and reject the new EU-wide treaty. We had made it perfectly clear that it would be impossible to sign up to a new treaty if it did not safeguard British interests - specifically our modest and reasonable concerns about the operation of the single market and about how amendments to the treaty would affect our financial services sector. The Prime Minister’s speech can be read in full via this link:
Our country is better off remaining a full and influential member of the EU, but I realise that many constituents are, quite legitimately, worried about certain aspects of our relationship with Brussels and the chilling effect that the Eurozone crisis is having on our domestic economy. It is vital that we continue to protect our national interests and insist that our voice is heard in Europe, but I do not believe this requires us to sign up to every single arrangement - especially when they threaten to damage our interests. Alongside the Prime Minister’s decision to exercise the veto at the EU Council meeting, we have previously managed to get ourselves out of the last government’s involvement in the Eurozone bail-out mechanisms, negotiate a real terms freeze in this year’s EU Budget and introduce a referendum lock new so that any proposed transfer of powers from the UK to the EU must have the consent of the British people. If we continue in this manner, whilst simultaneously applying pressure on our European partners to help restore market confidence and sort out their unmanageable debt and deficits, we can be a more assertive power in Europe and better safeguard our national sovereignty and our economy.