Leaders Of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland Urge David Cameron To Put Back EU Referendum
David Cameron has been urged by the leaders of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland not to hold his European Union referendum in June.
David Cameron has been urged by the leaders of
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland not to hold his
European Union referendum in June.
Nicola Sturgeon, Carwyn Jones and Arlene Foster
warned that a vote in June would mean the referendum
campaign clashing with the May elections to Holyrood,
the Senedd and Stormont.
The first ministers said a June plebiscite risks
confusing issues at a moment when clarity is required''
and called on Mr Cameron to commit to
deferring the EU referendum at least until later in the year''.
The Prime Minister rejected the demand, committing to
a gap of at least six weeks after the May 5 elections
before holding the referendum - leaving open the
possibility of a vote on June 23 or 30.
The letter, also signed by Northern Ireland's deputy first
minister Martin McGuinness, said: We believe that
holding a referendum as early as June will mean that a
significant part of the referendum campaign will
necessarily run in parallel with those elections and
risks confusing issues at a moment when clarity is
required.
Furthermore, it will be virtually impossible for the
political parties in our respective territories to plan
effectively for, and where appropriate work
together on, the referendum campaign while our own
elections are in progress.
We believe that the European referendum is of vital
importance to the future of the whole United Kingdom
and the debate leading up to it should, therefore, be free
of other campaigning distraction.''
At Prime Minister's Questions, Mr Cameron insisted
that voters would be perfectly capable'' of coping with
two separate ballots.
He was urged to rule out a June referendum by the
SNP's Westminster leader Angus Robertson.
Mr Cameron said: There is no agreement, so no date
has yet been fixed for the referendum.''
He said former first minister Alex Salmond had called
for a six week gap between the May contests and the
referendum and I can guarantee that won't happen''.
The Prime Minister added: I do respect the former first
minister of Scotland who said six weeks was what was
necessary.
I also respect the electorates of England, Scotland,
Wales and Northern Ireland on the basis that I think
people are perfectly capable of making up their minds in
a local election or in a Scottish parliamentary election,
or in a Welsh assembly election and then, a period of
some weeks afterwards, making up their mind all over
again on the vital question of the European Union.''
He told MPs: This House has voted for a referendum.
It would be pretty odd if, having voted for a referendum
we then spend ages debating about not having one.''