Miliband rules out referendum on EU membership

Voters in the United Kingdom will not get a vote on the country's membership of the European Union until after 2020 under plans proposed yesterday by Labour leader Ed Miliband.

However, they will be asked to give a straight answer to whether the UK should stay in the EU or not on the next occasion an EU treaty is agreed that sees member states pool powers in Brussels. That is “unlikely” in the lifetime of the next parliament, he said.

Emphasising that the EU must be reformed, Mr Miliband nevertheless insisted that the UK’s voice “continues to punch above its weight in the world” partly because it is able to speak in alliance with 27 other countries.

“From climate change to crime and terrorism to promoting democracy around the world, Britain is stronger as part of the EU. Because the only way to respond to problems that cross borders is with countries working together,” he declared.

However, Mr Miliband, who has been pressed to declare whether he would hold an EU referendum if elected next year, said: “People have reached the point where they don’t want to see further transfers of power from Britain to the EU without their consent.”

Immigration from Eastern European countries, particularly, has played “a major factor in people’s doubts” about EU membership, even though the British “greatly value the ability to move around Europe”.

Two million British live elsewhere in the EU. “Immigration brings benefits to our country, making it richer, economically, socially, culturally. But there is a genuine concern about the impact that the pace of change has had here.”

He went on: “I believe in an outward looking Britain. A confident Britain. A Britain that wants to learn from how things are done elsewhere. Because we know that we can hold our own with the best in the world.”

Ridiculing prime minister David Cameron’s promise to hold an EU membership referendum in 2017, Mr Miliband said Mr Cameron can only get to May 2015 “on the basis of obscurity”.

“Because he is caught between the demands of his backbenchers, many of whom want to leave the European Union, and the reality about what he knows could be negotiable with our European partners.

“He cannot tell us what he is negotiating for because if he does it will be clear that either he will fail to satisfy his party or set demands in Europe that he will inevitably fail to achieve,” the Labour leader declared.

Mr Cameron’s 2017 pledge has made the situation “far worse” because he is getting no support from fellow EU leaders and no definitive answer on whether he would recommend staying in or quitting.

“His promises on Europe are undefined, undeliverable and are now unravelling. None of this is an accident,” he said, adding that Mr Cameron’s plans threaten the UK’s economy.

“Either we would end up outside the single market or even if we could stay within it, it would be under terms and rules dictated by others. That would be bad for Britain,” he said.