John Baron MP responds to Prime Minister’s EU Letter

Relying on other Parliaments to block unwanted EU legislation is not sovereignty

Today the Prime Minister sent a letter to the President of the European Council, formally setting out the EU reforms the British Government is seeking ahead of the EU referendum. The proposals envisage reform of the EU’s economic governance, its competitiveness, member states’ immigration policies and Parliamentary sovereignty. On the last, however, the proposal is only to allow national Parliaments to club together to stop unwanted EU legislation rather than enabling one Parliament to veto legislation by itself.

John said,

“In his letter, the Prime Minister fails to adequately address the central issue of sovereignty. Our Parliament must be sovereign – it must be able to stop unwanted EU legislation, regulations or taxes. This goes to the heart of issues such as control of our borders, supremacy of our laws and the extent of small business regulation. Sharing sovereignty with other Parliaments falls well short of what is required.”

Ends
Word Count: 157
Date: 10th November 2015

Notes to Editors:
• The Prime Minister’s letter is available online at: http://goo.gl/O1aDr8.
• In 2012, John organised two letters to the Prime Minister, signed by 100 Conservative MPs, calling for referendum legislation to be placed on the Statute Book in the last Parliament for an in/out referendum in this Parliament. This helped persuade David Cameron to promise an in/out vote in his Bloomberg Speech in January 2013.
• John then tabled an amendment to the Queen’s Speech in May 2013, regretting the absence of referendum legislation in the Government’s agenda.
• Though the amendment was defeated, it was supported by 115 Conservative MPs. This persuaded the Prime Minister to go down the Private Member’s Bill route and, when this was twice defeated by Labour and Liberal Democrat Parliamentarians, to place it at the centre of the 2015 Conservative manifesto at the General Election.