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Britain in Europe: MPs to debate Cameron's referendum pledge William Hague defends Conservative EU referendum pledge
(about 11 hours later)
MPs will have their first chance later to discuss the UK's future in Europe since David Cameron promised to hold a referendum on UK membership if he wins the next general election. The Conservatives have a "clear vision" for the UK's future role in Europe, William Hague has told MPs as they debate the party's pledge to hold a referendum on its future membership.
Mr Cameron has vowed to negotiate a "better deal" for the UK in Europe and put that to a public vote by 2018. The foreign secretary said "fresh consent" was needed from the public for a "new settlement" with the EU.
Labour and the Lib Dems say this will cause years of uncertainty and raise the prospect of withdrawal from the EU. David Cameron has promised a referendum before the end of 2017 if his party wins the next election.
The Commons debate will take place after Prime Minister's Questions. Labour said the pledge had not resolved the Tories' "headache" over the issue.
The referendum pledge has been broadly welcomed by Conservative MPs, more than 80 of whom voted for a so-called in/out vote on EU membership when the issue was last debated in Parliament in 2011. The Conservative leader has vowed to negotiate a "better deal" for the UK in Europe, arguing the institution must change to become more competitive and accountable to its citizens.
Mr Cameron, who will not be present for Wednesday's debate because of a trip to Africa, has said the EU must change to become more competitive and accountable to its citizens. 'Real choice'
'Permanent debate' His promise to renegotiate the UK's membership and then put that to a vote of the British public by 2018 has been welcomed by Conservative MPs, but criticised by Labour and the Lib Dems.
He has said he will campaign for the UK to remain in the EU on the right terms as he believes Britain's economic interests are "best served" by being part of the 27-member union. Defending the Conservatives' strategy in Parliament, Mr Hague said the party had a "clear vision for Britain's future role in Europe - renegotiation, then a referendum with a real choice".
But critics have said the Conservative leader has not made it clear what he will do if the renegotiation he foresees in UK-EU relations is not agreed to by other EU nations or the outcome is not satisfactory. The British people would be asked whether they wanted to remain in the EU on a new basis - which he personally favoured - or to get out.
The Conservatives have said they will give more details of the powers they wish to reclaim in their next election manifesto and would introduce legislation to pave the way for a referendum by the end of 2017 if they were returned to power. The UK, he added, was not seeking merely to change the EU for its own benefit but to make improvements in how it functioned - in areas such as social and employment legislation - that would benefit all 27 members.
Treasury Minister Greg Clark said the way negotiations about a common banking union across the eurozone were being conducted indicated it was "perfectly possible" to agree arrangements acceptable to countries inside and outside the single currency. But shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander said the Conservatives' approach was not based around the national interest but was a "glorified handling strategy" to keep its MPs happy and fend off the threat of the UK Independence Party.
In this area, as well as others, he said it was possible to negotiate "without rancour" and ensure "important safeguards" relating to issues of UK national interest, such as the development of the single market, were protected. He said neither Mr Cameron nor Mr Hague were able to explain what powers they wished to reclaim from Brussels or what the party's "red lines" would be in any future re-negotiation. He said the party was as divided over the issue as ever.
"Far from it being heretical to contemplate change, the fact is that, in regard to important aspects of the policies and structures of the EU, change is already being negotiated," he told href="http://conservativehome.blogs.com/platform/2013/01/from-gregclarkmp-1.html" >the Conservative Home website. He joked that Conservative backbenchers had been promised "red meat" by Mr Cameron but had, instead, been offered "chunks of tofu".
"Domestic politics is, in essence, a permanent debate about a simple question: 'How can things be done better?' Why shouldn't the same apply to the European Union?" "The primary aim (of Mr Cameron's pledge) was to deliver unity through the device of obscurity."
Labour has not ruled out holding an in/out referendum at some point in the future but says the timing of Mr Cameron's announcement was designed largely to appease his backbenchers and represents a "huge gamble" with jobs and investment. 'Not sensible'
The Lib Dems say the UK risks "tying itself in knots" over a protracted re-negotiation and it is "implausible" that other nations will allow a root-and-branch reconfiguration of the UK's membership. The Conservatives have said they will give more details of the powers they wish to claw back in their next election manifesto and would introduce legislation to pave the way for a referendum by the end of 2017 if they were returned to power.
Critics have said the Conservative leader has not made it clear what he will do if the renegotiation he foresees in UK-EU relations is not agreed to by other EU nations or the outcome is not satisfactory.
The Conservatives have accused Labour of flip-flopping over the issue after they said the timing was not right for a referendum but did not rule out having one at some point in the future.
Pressed about his party's position by Conservative MP John Redwood, Mr Alexander said it was "not sensible" to make such a guarantee now and that senior business leaders were worried about the uncertainty it would cause.
The Lib Dems say the UK risks "tying itself in knots" over a protracted re-negotiation and have said they believe it was "implausible" to think that other nations would allow a root-and-branch reconfiguration of the UK's membership.