Last Friday, the EU Referendum Bill passed its second reading unopposed.
People feel the EU is heading in a direction we never signed up to, it’s costing British taxpayers too much, and we have lost control of our own affairs.
That’s why the Conservatives have a plan to deliver real change in the EU: to renegotiate the relationship so that it works for Britain, and to put the outcome of that renegotiation to the British people in an in-out referendum in 2017.
Labour and the Liberal Democrats will not deliver this referendum, UKIP cannot. Only a strong, stable Conservative majority government can deliver this chance for the British people to have their say.
We are doing this by renewing Britain’s economic strength and independence enabling us to fight Britain’s corner and deliver real change. It is only the Conservatives that have a credible plan to reshape Britain’s relationship with the European Union and we have already set out key areas for renegotiation including keeping our border controls, cracking down on benefit tourism and securing more trade but not an ‘ever closer union’.
We will put the outcome of the renegotiation to the British people in an in-out referendum by the end of 2017. David Cameron has made it clear that he won’t be Prime Minister of a government unless it’s committed to an in-out referendum in 2017.
We have strong track record of delivering for the UK in Europe. We secured the first ever cut in the EU Budget; kept Britain out of the EU bailouts to protect British taxpayers’ money and vetoed a new EU fiscal treaty that didn’t guarantee a level playing field for British businesses.
People think that the EU is not working for Britain. We need to fix that relationship, deliver real change and make it work for Britain. Only the Conservatives have a clear plan to do that. Labour and the Liberal Democrats do not and UKIP can’t.
Although David Cameron has spoken out in the past against an in-out referendum, the results of the European elections across Europe sent a clear message that many people have problems with the EU, the way it is working and people’s relationship with it. The only way to deal with this challenge is to negotiate a new settlement in the EU and then put that settlement to the British people in a referendum.
We have cut the EU budget, saving British taxpayers over £8 billion. We have negotiated huge savings in the EU Budget: halving the annual increase in the 2011 Budget, freezing the 2012 Budget and securing the first ever cut in the EU’s long-term budget, saving British taxpayers hundreds of millions of pounds each year.
We have kept Britain out of the EU bailouts to protect British taxpayers’ money. We have safeguarded Britain by ending UK participation in the EU bailout funds so we will never again have to pay for the economic failures of the Eurozone.
We have vetoed a new EU fiscal treaty that didn’t guarantee a level playing field for British businesses – the first time a British Prime Minister has ever vetoed an EU treaty.
We have introduced a ‘referendum lock’ to ensure no more power transfers to Brussels without a referendum. We have passed a law to make sure that no powers can pass from Britain to Brussels without the consent of the British people in a referendum.
We also attempted to legislate to hold an in-out referendum. To strengthen our commitment we supported James Wharton’s Private Member’s Bill to legislate for a referendum. However, Liberal Democrat and Labour peers conspired to defeat this bill.
We have helping small businesses by reducing EU regulations. We secured agreement in the EU to exempt small businesses from any new EU regulations and to review existing regulations from which small businesses could be exempted.
The Prime Minister has made it clear that the EU has become too big, too bossy and too interfering. The status quo is not acceptable, and voters across Europe have made it clear that they want change. We are working to renegotiate Britain’s relationship with the EU.
We are keeping our border controls and cracking down on benefit tourism. We want to see free movement to take up work, not free benefits. We support the continued enlargement of the EU to new members but think that new mechanisms should be put in place to prevent vast migrations across the Continent.
National parliaments need to be able to work together to block unwanted European legislation. We need to ensure powers can flow back to national parliaments. We will look at ways to make this happen.
The Conservatives will give the British people a choice by holding an in-out EU referendum before the end of 2017.