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EU referendum Bill branded 'dead parrot’ after House of Lords vote

  • 25-01-2014 7:12pm
    #1
    Scofflaw
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 23,283 ✭✭✭✭


    The House of Lords has sent back David Cameron's EU Referendum Bill with a set of amendments that make it unlikely to be passed into law into time for the European Elections in May:
    The Prime Minister’s attempt to give the British people a vote on membership of the European Union is a “dead parrot”, senior Conservatives have conceded.

    David Cameron’s plan to enshrine in law an in/out vote came under sustained attack from Labour and Liberal Democrat peers in the House of Lords, in what Conservatives claimed was a coordinated effort to kill off the Bill.

    Peers voted on Friday to send back the Bill with amendments to the Commons for further debate. That means it is unlikely to meet its deadline of clearing both Houses of Parliament by Feb 28, its supporters conceded.

    “It is a dead parrot,” said Bill Cash, the chairman of the European scrutiny select committee. “Passing the amendments that they have means it can’t make the timetable. For practical purposes, this Bill is dead. There’s no chance it can pass.”

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/eureferendum/10596410/EU-referendum-Bill-branded-dead-parrot-after-Lords-vote.html

    The Bill might pass in time for the next General Election:
    The Conservatives may bring back the legislation later this year as another private member’s Bill. If the wording is unchanged and it passes the Commons without amendments, it will become law without having to go back to the Lords.

    It means Mr Cameron still stands a chance of getting the EU referendum into law before next year’s general election.

    Friday’s setback, however, means he must now face the UK Independence Party in the European elections in May unable to say that he secured a referendum for British voters.

    The Lords' tabled and passed a variety of amendments:
    More than 50 amendments were tabled for the committee stage of the EU Referendum Bill, including holding a petition of a million voters, posing the questions in Cornish and giving prisoners the vote, the Telegraph has learnt.

    As a private member’s Bill, it has a limited time to pass through Parliament. It can only be debated on Fridays and must be approved by both houses by February 28.
    The first amendment, changing the wording of the referendum, was backed by 138 Labour peers, 67 Liberal Democrats and three Conservatives, and opposed by one Labour peer, no Liberal Democrats and 147 Conservatives.

    That looks like a solid and pre-arranged assault on the Bill, which is highly unusual for the House of Lords.

    Interesting times.

    cordially,
    Scofflaw


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