Shadow chancellor Ed Balls. 'If Len
McCluskey is supporting the David Cameron position, I disagree with Len
McCluskey.' Photograph: Ken Jack/Demotix/Corbis
Shadow chancellor Ed Balls last night said he disagreed with Unite's
call for a referendum promise in the Labour manifesto, accusing the
head of the country's biggest trade union of supporting a Tory policy
that would be bad for jobs.
The shadow chancellor dismissed a warning from Unite general secretary Len McCluskey
that the party risked being "boxed in" at the 2015 general election
unless it dropped its opposition to matching David Cameron's promise to
allow voters a say.
Delegates at the conference of Labour's
biggest union affiliate approved a statement from Unite's executive
urging Labour to "urgently reconsider" its approach to a referendum, and
making it clear that the union would argue for a vote for Britain to
stay in the EU.
Asked on BBC2's Newsnight whether there was "no
question that an incoming Labour government would ever offer an in/out
referendum on Europe", Mr Balls replied: "That would be a silly thing
for us to say."
"We made a very clear commitment: if there is any
proposal in the next parliament for a transfer of powers to Brussels we
will have an in/out referendum.
"We are not proposing a
referendum now because we think to spend two or three years blighting
investment and undermining our economy on the prospect of a referendum
which David Cameron says he is going to have after he gets an unknown
package of reforms would be bad for jobs and investment.
"If Len McCluskey is supporting the David Cameron position, I disagree with Len McCluskey."
Cameron
has pledged to renegotiate the terms of Britain's membership if the
Tories win a majority next year, and hold a referendum in 2017.
McCluskey told the conference that "ducking this question is seen as part of Labour's commitment to business".
"That
is a vast hostage to fortune. I would not like to be Ed Miliband
explaining why he is not joining other parties in offering the British
people a vote on something that is clearly a growing source of public
concern.
"It is time that Labour's leadership took a new look at
the referendum question. We do not seek a referendum to take Britain out
of the EU, we seek a referendum rethink in order to help Labour into
power.
"Without such a pledge, our party will stand exposed, Ukip
will be strengthened in some key constituencies and the Tories will
hypocritically charge Labour with being anti-democratic. In a tight
election, this can make the difference."
McCluskey said denying a referendum would suggest that Labour was part of a "political elite" that did not trust the electorate.
•
This article was amended on 3 July 2014 to clarify remarks made by Ed
Balls, both in the text and the headline. The earlier version stated
that Balls had said it "would be 'silly' for Labour to offer voters an
in/out referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union".
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