MP and Colleagues represent 100 Conservative Backbenchers
Today John Baron MP led a delegation of several Parliamentary colleagues to Number 10 for a meeting with the Prime Minister about his forthcoming speech on Europe. This follows John’s gathering of 100 Conservative MPs’ signatures to a letter sent in June, outlining their position on Europe. The discussion itself is confidential, but John did reiterate his view that a commitment has to be believable and that the referendum has to be credible.
John said,
“Whatever commitment is given by the Prime Minister – and we hope it is for a referendum – has to be believable, because too many politicians have broken promises in the past; and secondly, the referendum itself has to be credible, which means it must have an ‘out’ option, otherwise people will not buy into it.”
“In our view, the best way of making it believable is to legislate in this Parliament – people will be more cynical of a simple manifesto promise. I do not think a referendum now is right, because the Prime Minister needs time to renegotiate a more flexible relationship, but it does need to be credible when it comes.”
Ends
Word Count: 201
Date: 16th January 2013
John Baron will not post replies to any comments - to contact John please Click here or alternatively for a full list of contact details Click here