Minister urges 'mature' EU debate

The treaty was drawn up to replace the failed EU constitution

Europe Minister Jim Murphy has called for a "mature debate" on the European Union, as the government prepares for a Commons battle over the new EU treaty.

In a speech, Mr Murphy urged critics of the EU to stop "bestowing it with apparently satanical powers".

He dismissed calls for a referendum on the new treaty saying previous treaties like Maastricht had not had one.

The Tories say the treaty is almost identical to the failed EU Constitution on which Labour promised a referendum.

In a speech to the London School of Economics, Mr Murphy said he had received one letter this week describing the EU as "a coup d'etat" and "a Papist conspiracy" which was "similar to the threat from Nazi Germany".

'Admit ambitions'

"It would help if we consider the EU as it actually is, rather than as some fear it might be," he said.

"We might look maturely at what the EU has achieved over the last 50 years, over how it has helped make our continent a more peaceful, more prosperous and better place but also where it has failed to live up to ambitions or act quickly or decisively enough."

I dare the government to have a proper debate on this, rather than dismissing every attempt to let the public know the truth Lord Pearson UKIP peer

He said a "mature debate" required people to "admit what our ambitions for Europe are and if, for some people, they include pulling Britain out of Europe they should say so, and say what the alternative is."

But UK Independence Party peer Lord Pearson said his own calls for a cost-benefit analysis of British EU membership had been rejected by the government and Lib Dems in the Lords.

And he disputed a claim from Mr Murphy that three million British jobs depended on EU membership, saying in written answers to him, ministers had admitted they had no estimate.

Parliamentary battle

"I dare the government to have a proper debate on this, rather than dismissing every attempt to let the public know the truth about our membership of the EU," he said.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown signed the Reform Treaty - designed to replace the EU Constitution which was rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005 - in December, but it has yet to be ratified by Parliament.

He faces a battle to get the treaty through Parliament - the Conservatives and some Labour and Lib Dem MPs say there should be a referendum.

Tory leader David Cameron has accused Mr Brown of breaking a manifesto commitment and says he has "absolutely no democratic mandate" to sign the treaty without a referendum.

The government argues that the treaty is substantially different to the constitution so does not require one.

It says that any changes it brings in are largely minor and procedural - and says it has secured "opt outs" for other changes, if necessary.

Mr Murphy said claims the new treaty created a federal Europe were wrong and he argued previous, "more ambitious", treaties like Maastricht had not been subject to a referendum.