The Lisbon Treaty should not be put to a referendum in this country, the Archbishop of York has said.In a debate in the House of Lords before the Irish no vote, Dr John Sentamu said Parliament was the best place to debate the issue.
He was speaking as Tory peers failed to force the Government to hold a referendum on the Treaty.
All three main parties promised in their last manifestos that they would put the European Union constitution to a public vote, but after the constititution collapsed and was replaced by the Treaty, the Government has argued that a referendum is no longer necessary.
The Crossbench peer Lord Ramsbotham, a former chief inspector of prisons, who backed the referendum bid, said it was a question of trust.
But Dr Sentamu told peers during the debate on Wednesday June 11: “I listened to Lord Ramsbotham and was persuaded by his argument on trust and how the three parties put in their manifestos that there will be a referendum.
“But what was that referendum about? It was about a constitution and if you want to persuade me that the treaty is the same as a constitution you have to do better than simply say: ‘The element of trust is important’.
“Of course trust is important. As a man of the cloth, I believe in trust; I believe in honesty and fairness. But let us put that trust in a context which is actually important.”
He added: “I believe that parliamentary democracy is the answer. If you ask anybody if they want to vote on any subject, and we see this quite a lot in the Church of England, they do. But does that mean that that is always the right question?”
Dr Sentamu continued: “If you ask whether the Queen will still be supreme in Parliament under the new treaty, will the answer be yes? Will this Parliament still be the highest court in the land? Will foreign policy, defence policy and law and order still be governed by this country?”
After each question there were shouts of “yes” from peers, and the Archbishop concluded: “Then why are we making this fuss?”
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