UK unions call for EU treaty referendum

Support for a referendum on the revised EU treaty from some of Britain’s biggest trade unions is “seriously good news”, according to a leading eurosceptic MEP.

UK Independence Party (UKIP) leader Nigel Farage said on Thursday that backing for a referendum from the GMB and RMT unions, both long term supporters of the UK Labour government, could undermine new prime minister Gordon Brown’s position on the issue.
 
"Gordon Brown must be the only man in the country who doesn't realise that we have to have a referendum on this treaty," said Farage.

"Every other political leader in the EU has said that this is the constitution in all but name.”

Brown remains opposed to calls to hold a referendum on the new EU treaty, insisting that parliamentary ratification is sufficient.

But the GMB is concerned that the UK's opt-out from the EU charter of fundamental rights will be retained in the transition from the constitution to the treaty.

 The union has said that it would be unlikely to campaign for a treaty where “workers would become second class citizens in Europe”.

Brown therefore finds himself under pressure from eurosceptics on the right, who believe that a UK referendum would return a no vote, and Labour’s traditional supporters on the left, concerned that the government’s commitment to European social legislation does not go far enough.

In a meeting this week with German chancellor Angela Merkel, Brown was keen to highlight the benefits of closer cooperation with leading EU powers.

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