Fairness and Change
Civitas, 14 April 2010
As the 2010 UK General Election approaches, the race to the ballot box is underway and the wooing of the electorate is in full swing, writes Natalie Hamill. With less than a month to go, UK Party leaders are appearing all over the country (in ‘solid British’ settings such as bakeries and car factories) promising change, or fairness, (or fairness and change).
The EU has been largely ignored as an election issue, beyond bickering over the Lisbon Treaty referendum debacle. Disappointingly the Parties Manifestos have largely followed suit, each dedicating little more than a few paragraphs on their vision of the UK’s role in the EU.
The Conservative Party manifesto pledges to “change the law so that never again would a government be able to agree to a Treaty that hands over areas of power from Britain to the EU without a referendum”. The Tories would also introduce a Sovereignty Bill – to protect our national parliament, and they promise to return key powers back to Britain, especially regarding social and employment legislation.
The Conservatives state that they would never join the Euro without a “yes” from the British public in a referendum, something the Labour Party also confirms in their manifesto (a cynic might argue that this is a meaningless pledge in light of Labour’s refusal to hold a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. No doubt if it came to it there would be some slight sub-clause, or grammatical alteration to resolve them of the responsibility of holding such a vote…)
The Liberal Democrats seemingly fall into step with the Labour party on EU policy (perhaps a “good sign” for a potential hung-parliament?) Both parties believe that Britain should be a “leading player in Europe”, and pay lip service to CAP reform (the EU’s controversial agricultural policy receives the biggest allocation of the EU budget), as well as expressing the importance of using the EU to combat climate change (both want the EU to lead the way with a target of 30% for the reduction of carbon emissions by 2020). They also promise to use the EU to tackle cross-border crime and terrorism.
They do however differ – Labour places emphasis on Europe’s economy and the importance of “strong competitiveness“, whereas the Lib Dems concentrate on “improving EU processes”. (The Lib Dems’ Europe initiatives stretch to a side and a half, the longest in the three manifestos!)
Few in the electorate will give a party their vote based only on EU issues, which may well be why these parties have escaped expanding on their vague EU visions, but it’s a pity there is not more insight to be gained from the respective manifestos. By sticking to the same old jargon and familiar policy territory the parties may fail in this area with what they are trying hardest to achieve; fairness and change.