news analysis - the referendum question
WORKERS, APR 2005 ISSUE
The European Union Act started the government's campaign to get us to accept the EU Constitution. The Act does not set a date for the referendum. Until a date is set the government, EU bodies and campaign organisations can spend as much as they want. This is why the government is delaying announcing dates for the referendum and the general election, keeping the formal campaigns as brief as possible.
The referendum question is; "Should the United Kingdom approve the Treaty establishing a Constitution for the European Union?" This presents only one option, to "approve" the treaty. But the Electoral Commission's guidelines for a fair question warned, "Words such as 'new' and 'approve' may in some instances imply that something is a positive concept."
The question refers to "the Treaty establishing a Constitution for the European Union". This wrongly implies that answering 'Yes' would merely approve a treaty clarifying existing EU institutions. The correct title is "the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe". A vote in favour would be accepting a new constitution for Britain as part of the new state of Europe. By contrast, the question for Dutch voters in their 1 June referendum is fairer and more accurate — "Are you for or against the Netherlands agreeing to the treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe?"
This act allows the government to combine the referendum with another vote, for example with the local elections due in May 2006. The Electoral Commission recommended against this, saying, "We believe that referendums on fundamental issues of national importance should be considered in isolation. Cross-party campaigning on a fundamental referendum could cause significant confusion among the electorate if combined with normal party election campaigning. There is a risk that the dominance of the referendum issue would influence other polls to an extent that may compromise the electorate's will in those other polls."
• See the features article on the European Constitution.