Leader Of The Official Opposition And Support For Referenda

EDM number 2058 in 1992-93, proposed by Margaret Ewing on 20/05/1993.

That this House notes the support given by the Leader of the Official Opposition to a referendum on electoral reform; further notes his comment that 'it is a matter of such constitutional significance that it should be for the people to decide'; is mindful of the official policy of the Labour Party which is to support a multi-option referendum on Scotland's constitutional position; recalls the support given by the Leader of the Official Opposition for the principle of referenda for constitutional change in Scotland in an interview with The Bulletin of Scottish Politics in 1981 when he stated 'this principle seems to apply in the case of the Common Market too'; and wonders why, if the Right honourable Member for Monklands East sees fit to support referenda for Scotland and to extend the principle to include electoral reform, he has been singularly unwilling to inflict defeat on the Prime Minister and the Government over the issue of a referendum on Maastricht, including a question on the Social Charter, which is the only issue where he has the power and not just the desire to extract a referendum from the Government.

This motion has been signed by a total of 3 MPs.