Should the HoL's vote in favour of a referendum, that would increase their standing in public esteem. Having decided that the Lisbon Treaty is fundamentally different from the EU Constitution, this should enable the Lords to savage the Bill, without being accused of rejecting a government manifesto
pledge, which under the Salisbury Convention, they refrain from doing. Secondly, in the HoC, the Conservatives could oppose the government, safe in the knowledge that the government had a majority. In the Lords, the Conservatives have a majority, so they should be able to defeat the government, if that is what they really wish. If nothing other than causing a delay in the ratification process results from the efforts of the HoL, a delay could serve us well.
The present situation could change dramatically over the coming months.
A full-blown economic crisis is looming. German bankers and industrialists are
predicting the euro-zone could be blown apart with both the dollar and pound falling dramatically. As you will be aware, a fall in both those currencies, is tantamount to an import tariff on EU goods.The post-war global economic system is in dire straits: hold firm and we could win yet.
|