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Assurances Given During The 1975 Referendum

EDM number 266 in 1991-92, proposed by Ron Leighton on 26/11/1991.

That this House notes that in the manifesto issued by the Government of the day to every household in the country during the 1975 referendum, it was stated that there was a threat to employment in Britain from the movement in the Common Market towards an economic and monetary union and that this could have forced the country to accept fixed exchange rates for the pound, restricting industrial growth and so putting jobs at risk and that this threat had been removed; notes that this implies there would be no economic and monetary union; notes that the manifesto also stated that no important new policy can be decided in Brussels or anywhere else without the consent of a British Minister answerable to a British Government and British Parliament; further notes that this manifesto stated that it was the Council of Ministers, and not the Market's officials, who took the important decisions, that these decisions could be taken only if all the members of the Council agreed and that the Ministers representing Britain could veto any proposal for a new law or new tax if he considered it to be against British interests; realises that this ruled out political union; and, in view of these clear assurances, notes that the 1975 referendum gives no mandate to sign the new treaties at Maastricht, rather the reverse.

This motion has been signed by a total of 11 MPs.

MPDateConstituencyPartyType
Ron Leighton26/11/1991Newham North EastProposed
Max Madden26/11/1991Bradford WestSigned
Richard Shepherd27/11/1991Aldridge-BrownhillsSigned
James Cran27/11/1991BeverleySigned
Terry Davis27/11/1991Birmingham, Hodge HillSigned
Gwyneth Dunwoody27/11/1991Crewe & NantwichSigned
Teddy Taylor27/11/1991Southend EastSigned
Willie Ross28/11/1991East LondonderrySigned
Nicholas Winterton28/11/1991MacclesfieldSigned
Nigel Spearing03/12/1991Newham SouthSigned
Ian Grist04/12/1991Cardiff CentralSigned

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