Clegg calls for 'in-out EU referendum'

Nick Clegg has called for a referendum on whether Britain should remain a member of the EU.

Setting out the case for a vote on Britain's continued membership, the Liberal Democrat leader said a referendum on the Lisbon treaty would not be enough.

He pointed out on Monday that the government had promised a referendum on the failed EU constitution and said Gordon Brown must address the public's "rightful demand" to have a say.

"They were promised a vote far, far wider than the Lisbon Treaty, when all three parties supported a referendum on the EU constitution at the last election," Clegg said.

"And that promise must now be fulfilled. It should be fulfilled by asking the British people the real question - the question that matters to them: Should we stay in the EU, or should we leave? Are we in - or are we out?"

Claiming that the debate had "been poisoned for too long by a Labour Party that refuses to make the case for it, and an opportunistic Tory party that actively seeks to undermine it", Clegg stressed the need to "settle the matter one way or another".

"So today I am inviting the Labour and Conservative parties to join with me in calling for the referendum that will settle Britain's European future, once and for all: an in-out referendum," he added.

Clegg said that politicians "should never be afraid of arguing the case for the immense benefits that the European Union provides to the UK" and that the Tories should also call for a key vote.

"A referendum on the treaty would be an irrelevance, and we will treat it as such," he said. "It would not answer the real question. It would not settle the European question that has distorted British politics for so long."

'Split'

On Tuesday, MPs are expected to vote on the Lib Dem proposal and on March 5 they will vote on whether to hold a referendum on the treaty.

The Conservatives claimed there was growing division among the Lib Dems on the nature of the referendum.

"This is an attempt to paper over the Lib Dems' widening split on a referendum on the renamed EU constitution," said shadow foreign secretary William Hague.

Hague said that the Lib Dems had promised a referendum on the EU constitution which is "in substance nearly identical" to the Lisbon treaty.

"They did not mention an in-out referendum to voters - they have no mandate for one," he added.

"A growing number of Lib Dem frontbenchers want to support a referendum on the renamed EU constitution. By sticking to their manifesto commitment the Liberal Democrats could force a referendum in the Commons.

"They cannot run away from that responsibility. So will Nick Clegg follow those frontbenchers, sack them or let his party split every which way?"