Campaign news

09/10/07

I Want a Referendum launches adverts in cinemas nationwide

Thank you for signing up to support I Want a Referendum - the cross-party campaign that aims to ensure the Government keeps its promise to hold a referendum on the EU Constitution.

1. I Want a Referendum launches adverts in cinemas nationwide

With general election speculation off, the issue of a referendum on the revised EU Constitution will be returning to the forefront of political debate. With this in mind, I Want a Referendum will be stepping up its campaign over the coming months.

This week, cinemas across the UK will begin screening I Want a Referendum’s advert, which will be seen by over one million people. The advert features voters explaining why they want a referendum, urging viewers to sign up as supporters of the campaign.

To view the advert, visit our homepage.

For a list of towns where the advert is being screened, click here.

How you can help

This will be an excellent opportunity to sign up new supporters to the campaign. If a cinema in your area is showing the advert, and you are interested in signing people up after the screening, please contact paul@iwantareferendum.com, or call 020 7197 2333 for more information.

2. Independent MPs conclude new treaty is “substantially equivalent to the Constitutional Treaty” – UK’s ‘safeguards’ are “not sustainable”

The cross-party Commons European Scrutiny Committee this week published a report which will have a major impact in the debate about whether there should be a referendum on the revived Constitutional Treaty. The report finds that the new Reform Treaty is “substantially equivalent to the Constitutional Treaty”, including for the UK.

It also notes that the Government’s “red lines” are the same as before, and questions whether the various safeguards for the UK will work. It notes that the Treaty would “change the legal relationship between the EU and national Governments” – particularly by giving the European Court of Justice new powers over criminal law and policing. It finds that the Government’s claims that the new treaty no longer had the characteristics of a constitution were "less than helpful", and "likely to be misleading". Read more here.

Read the report in full

How you can help

If we are going to succeed we need to make politicians in Westminster aware of the strength of feeling on this issue.

You could help our campaign by writing to your MP and asking them whether or not they are in favour of a referendum, explaining why you think they should be. Mentioning the findings of the Commons EU Scrutiny Committee is a good place to start.

The more people who write, the more MPs will feel inclined to pressure the Government into holding a referendum.

To make your life easier we've come up with some suggestions for your letter and how you can quickly send an email to your MP about it.

To help our campaign build up a picture of which MPs are in favour of a referendum and which are against, we would be grateful to receive any responses you get. Please email them to susannah@iwantareferendum.com or post them to I Want a Referendum, 7 Tufton Street, London, SW1P 3QN.

3. I Want a Referendum at the Conservative conference

Following our activities at the Labour, Lib Dem and Green Party conferences, I Want a Referendum attended the Conservative conference in Blackpool. At the conference, the team handed out pro-referendum literature and signed up hundreds of party activists. In total, over 1,000 new supporters were signed up at the party conferences.

4. Over 20,000 have joined - sign up to support Britain's fastest growing political campaign

Over the last three weeks over 20,000 people have registered their support, making this Britain's fastest growing political campaign. We have also received considerable media coverage. This is a great start, but there is a long way to go. If we are to put real pressure on the Government it is important that as many people as possible sign up. To do this we need your help.

How you can help - email your friends

If you haven't already done so, please encourage your friends, family and colleagues to support our important campaign. By simply copying and pasting the text below and sending it on to 10 friends you could help boost our numbers enormously. All they will have to do is click on the link and type in their names.

Dear

Please join me in supporting the I Want a Referendum campaign, which is working to ensure that the Government keeps its promise to give us a say on the EU Constitution.

As most other EU leaders have acknowledged, the new version of the Constitutional Treaty is essentially the same as the original. It would mark a further substantial transfer of power from the UK to the European Union. This Government promised us a referendum back in 2004, but is now trying to deny us a say.

If adopted, the Constitutional Treaty would mean that in future new powers could be transferred to the EU without the need for any more new treaties. Further powers could be simply transferred gradually to the EU, with no public debate. In other words - this could be our last ever chance to have a say on the future of the EU. We must not miss it.

To show your support for the campaign, just click on the following link and add your name http://www.iwantareferendum.com/sign.aspx

Many thanks

Thanks again for your support. We cannot win without it.