Ed Miliband has said that he would only hold a referendum on the EU if more powers were transfered to the body after the 2015 election, something that he described as “unlikely”.
Miliband said: “It is important to emphasise that there are no current proposals – from either the EU or any member state – for a further transfer of powers from Britain.
“Therefore it is unlikely there will be any such proposals in the next parliament.
“But the British people know that the history of the EU, as well as uncertainty about precisely what a changing Europe and further integration in the eurozone might involve, means that a further transfer of powers remains possible.
“So in a speech today (12th March) I am announcing that the next Labour government will legislate for a new lock: there would be no transfer of powers from the UK to the EU without a referendum on our continued membership of the EU.
“This would not just be a referendum on the narrow question of whether to allow a transfer of powers from Britain to Brussels; as we have seen in other countries, such votes are too easily ignored. This position, setting out the conditions in the next parliament under which a Labour government would hold an in/out.”
The stance demonstrates a clear division between the Conservatives and Labour, as David Cameron has already pledged an In/Out referendum after the next election if powers are not repatriated from Brussels.
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