David Cameron In The Parliament

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David Cameron In The Parliament

The petition to organize a referendum on the European Union membership was defeated on Monday in the British parliament, but it was an occasion for the entire Europe to witness the most impressive rebellion of the Tory members of the parliament against their leader, Prime Minister David Cameron.

The petition came to the floor of the parliament as a result of a governmental act issued by David Cameron himself, by which all petitions backed on the internet by enough citizens should be discussed in the parliament.

The subject of the petition is the membership of the United Kingdom to the European Union, a topic intensely debated in the British society, where a growing frustration over the handing of the powers of state to the European authorities has determined a reaction of both politicians and general public.

The vote on Monday was also influenced by a little skirmish the Tory PM had with the French president Nicolas Sarkozy at the EU summit on Sunday. On that occasion, the French president replied bluntly to a British proposition that the countries that are not in the euro zone be invited as well to participate in the decision regarding the bailout package intended to save Greece from economic default.

At that moment, Sarkozy had a burst, reflecting the nervosity of the leaders of the European Union on a time of uncertainty for the continental organization, and told Cameron that he was tired of hearing the British lecturing him about European businesses.

This is how on Monday, 81 of the Tory backbenchers backed the referendum idea by voting in favor of the motion that urged the reconsideration of the relation with the EU, even though the PM had explicitly demanded them not to. Two Tories abstained, and 12 did not vote at all.

Thus half about the Tory lawmakers voted against the recommendation of their leader, and warned him that a protracted “war” was going on between them on the European subject.

The motion did not pass by the Parliament because it was rejected by the Liberal Democrat party, which is an ally of the Tories in the parliament, and by the Labor party. The vote in parliament was not binding, and it did not count for the governmental decision to have the referendum or not.

The prime minister announced when the referendum idea first came in public debate that a referendum would be organized until the end of the year, and that he and his cabinet were strictly against the referendum.

Cameron promised the British to fight for the repatriation of the powers that had been handed to the EU, especially those in the field of work legislation. The PM said that the best opportunity to tackle this subject would be when the treaties at the basis of European Union would come into renegotiation.

The last time the Tories rebelled against their leader was in 1993, and was on an European topic as well. In 1993, John Major was confronted by 41 members of the parliament from his own party over the Maastricht treaty.

The rebellion against Cameron is the biggest one ever against a Tory leader and reflects the mood toward the cooperation with the Liberal Democrats, which are enthusiastic supporters of the European Union membership of their country.

The leader of the Labor party, Ed Miliband, considered the stance of the Tories in the parliament as a defeat of the Prime Minister and a “humiliation,” and charged that if the PM cannot win an argument with his backbenchers how can he be expected to rule the country.

The leader of the House, Sir George Young, insisted that there was no split among the Tories, while Education Secretary Michael Gove denied that it was a humiliation of the Prime Minister, adding that the party was more united than ever behind the goal of repatriating the powers which had been given to the EU.

A Tory that supported the motion said about the vote on Monday night that it was the night when euroscepticism went mainstream in the British parliament.

Britain is not a member of the euro zone and has no major contribution to the bailout package, which mainly lies upon the shoulders of Germany and France.

Even so, Britain wants to be kept in the decision making process, fearing that otherwise the decision EU would make would hurt its economy.

Economic analysts pointed out that a vote that would take Britain out of the European Union would be detrimental, considering that 40 percent of British trade is with the euro zone countries, and that the financial services industry in Britain would have to suffer from such a decision.

European Union members of the euro zone will convene on Wednesday to discuss the methods by which the euro zone can be maintained.

After rejecting the French proposition that the European Central Bank funds be used to solve the problem, the decision is leaning toward the idea of injecting some 100 billion euros into the banks in order to help them withstand a possible Greek default.

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