So now we know. David Cameron's promise to run a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty was not worth the piece of paper it was written on. Almost as good a promise as Tony Blair's to give the people of the UK a referendum on the treaty (err Constitution actually). This will further deeply corrode people's trust in the promises of politicians. But it also brings to the fore the question of what the Tories are actually concerned about regarding the Lisbon Treaty. The defence provisions which require states to continually upgrade their military hardware? No. The provisions on the privatisation of public services and the neo-liberal economic agenda? No.
No the Tories main concerns are about workers rights, more holidays and giving paternity leave. With the longest hours in Europe and the least holidays the 'mine's a duck pond' Tories want us to work longer and have less time off, with the resulting increase in stress and impact on family life, children left alone etc. Seamus Milne puts the point well in today's Guardian:
"The truth is that dogma is, if anything, clung to even more tightly in London than in Brussels, and its grip has to be broken in both. Criticism of the European Union has for too long been dominated by a phoney chauvinistic Euroscepticism that ignores the real interests that have driven its development. Cameron's posturing yesterday about "referendum locks" and a bill to prevent the transfer of further powers to the EU does nothing to challenge that. Like New Labour, the Tories positively embrace loss of democratic or national sovereignty when it comes to corporate, or US, power."
I share concerns about the increasing loss of power to the EU elite but the Tories would just like us to be more like the good ol USA. And David Cameron has also promised that the NHS will be safe from spending cuts under a Tory government. Well I think we all know what will happen with that promise as well.
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