But surely the question of holding a referendum was a secondary, or even as one Cabinet member put it last week, a “tertiary” issue?What Clarke and Heseltine fear – beside having an objection in principle to referendums as a means of deciding policy – is that this is a case of “give ‘em an inch and they’ll take a mile” in the face of a combination of neo-Thatcherite, Europhobe backbenchers and the electoral threat posed by the anti-EU Referendum Party, funded by Sir James Goldsmith. John Redwood was opposed, but changed his mind before last summer’s leadership contest.All of which raises a simple question: why did Kenneth Clarke and Michael Heseltine not accept the idea? If Major had decided to rule out Britain joining a single currency in the next Parliament, that would have been a resigning issue for the two Cabinet ministers most attuned to the case for EMU. And if the nation voted “yes”, the Eurosceptic cause might be set back for a generation.It is an understanding of this wily political logic that has persuaded the more grown-up Eurosceptics to oppose the promise of a referendum. Portillo is opposed, though he has also been careful to make it clear that he will abide by a majority decision in favour of a referendum. That means the question would be reasonably positive: “Do you [with the Government] believe that the UK should enter a single currency?” What’s more, unlike the last referendum on Europe in 1975, the Cabinet would take collective responsibility and campaign for the decision.
This promised a dangerous dilemma for Cabinet Euro-sceptics: supposing the Cabinet did decide in favour of the single currency, then Michael Portillo, perhaps Peter Lilley, and probably Michael Howard would have to resign. Hurd’s idea was not that the Prime Minister would make an open promise to hold a referendum if and when the issue of a single currency came to the boil. Instead, the Hurd plan was that the Cabinet would recommend entry to a single currency in a referendum, only once it had taken the decision to join.
It had looked so ingenious as a means of uniting the party. At Cabinet level the idea had originated with Douglas Hurd, when he was Foreign Secretary. The commitment never to enter a single currency without a referendum had long been a totem for the Tory backbench right. What Hurd did with his customary intellectual elegance was to draw up terms in which, so he thought, that could be acceptable to pro-Europeans as well. If you have no fault, you are signing a contract which is meaningless.”The Government says the Bill strengthens the institution of marriage and that the cooling-off period will slow down divorces, giving couples more chance to settle differences.. It expects to be able to win with Labour support but yesterday’s delay heartened those opposed to the measure.Mr Leigh said he was confident that he could win support from ministers and a large group of backbenchers unhappy with the changes planned by the Lord Chancellor, Lord Mackay of Clashfern.The measure seeks to introduce no-fault divorces for the first time and to give couples a 12-month cooling-off period before they can sign a statement leading to a final divorce.One amendment, insisting on guilt being considered, would require the court to be satisfied that one of the parties had committed adultery and that they had lived apart for at least a year; or that one of the parties had behaved intolerably; or that they had lived apart for at least two years.Mr Leigh said: “It sends out the wrong message to young people embarking on the most important decision of their lives.
Ministers denied that they were retreating.The delay was welcomed by the Bill’s opponents, who believe they can use it to build up opposition to the measure.Edward Leigh, a minister sacked by John Major, is leading the campaign with other right-wing, senior backbench MPs: Dame Jill Knight, John Patten, the former education secretary, and John Redwood, the leadership challenger.They tabled amendments to the Bill yesterday to tighten grounds for divorce by insisting on fault-based divorce and doubling the proposed cooling- off period to two years.The Government has already given way to opponents by allowing a free vote on key sections. COLIN BROWN
Chief Political Correspondent
The Government was forced to delay the next stage of the controversial Family Law Bill last night as Tory rebels said they would try to defeat key parts of the divorce reforms.The Lord Chancellor’s Office had to postpone the committee stage of the Bill, due today, after the Government decided to rush emergency anti-terrorism legislation through the Commons. COLIN BROWN
Chief Political Correspondent
Government ministers last night geared up for fresh contacts with Gerry Adams, the Sinn Fein president, by naming him in draft legislation for the elections on 30 May in Northern Ireland.Ministers have refused to speak directly to Mr Adams and other members of the Sinn Fein leadership since the resumption of IRA violence with the Canary Wharf bombing in February.But a consultation document issued yesterday by the Northern Ireland Office said the legislation will name Mr Adams, the Sinn Fein president, as the person to be designated to act on behalf of Sinn Fein in contacts with the Government in the run-up to the elections and the negotiations on 10 June.The draft legislation makes it clear that Mr Adams will be responsible for giving lists of his party’s candidates to the chief electoral officer and deal with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Sir Patrick Mayhew, in nominating the negotiating teams.Sinn Fein is expected to take part in the elections, but will boycott the 110-seat forum from which the negotiating teams are to be appointed and which will have a debating role.The nationalist SDLP, led by John Hume, is expected to follow a similar approach.The legislation, to be rushed through Parliament after the Easter recess, will name 15 parties who will be allowed to take part in the elections, and their representatives.It also shows that Northern Ireland Conservative Party members have won their battle to fight the elections against the Unionists and the other parties.The Government had tried to persuade them that their interests would be represented by Conservative Northern Ireland ministers.But the draft document shows that the Government has come to a compromise: they will be allowed to stand, but their representative to nominate names for the elections and negotiations will be Brian Mawhinney, the Conservative Party chairman who has previously served as Northern Ireland security minister.Under the plans announced by John Major, voters will register a single vote; five seats in each of the 18 constituencies will be allocated from party lists of candidates; in addition, all the votes will be aggregated and the 10 most successful parties will have two seats each from the lists.In addition to the four main democratic parties in Northern Ireland taking part in the lection – the UUP, the DUP, SDLP and the Alliance Party – the small parties (and their representatives) allowed to stand include the Progressive Unionist Party, (Alderman Hugh Smyth); the Ulster Democratic Party, (Gary McMichael); the Workers Party, (Tom French); Democratic Left (Paddy Joe McLean); Green Party, (Juda Stephens); Labour Co-ordinating Committee, (Uel Adair); Natural Law Party; (James Anderson); and Ulster Independence, (Hugh Ross).. “The great danger of that would be that in a measurably short period of years the fish would be so over-fished that there would be no fishing industry left.”Leading sceptic Bill Cash, Conservative MP for Stafford, drew attention to the Presidency Conclusions from the summit, which reaffirms the EU’s commitment to economic and monetary union, and asked if Mr Major intended to reject a single currency.The Prime Minister explained that the single currency was being discussed in parallel to the IGC and he repeated his doubts that the 1999 deadline could be achieved.. STEPHEN GOODWIN
John Major yesterday came in for further sniping from Tory Euro-sceptics who believe he failed to take a sufficiently tough line at the Turin European summit on fishing rights and the single currency.
Reporting to MPs on the outcome of the meeting – marking the start of the Inter-Governmental Conference on the workings of the EU – the Prime Minister was also pressed over the possibility of a referendum on a single currency.With the Cabinet expected to discuss the divisive poll tomorrow, senior Conservative Tim Rathbone said many Tories supported Mr Major’s initial view that referenda were “not at all part of robust parliamentary procedures”.The Prime Minister said he did not think anything was remotely likely to come out of the IGC that could justify a referendum.He said: “The one area where I think there may possibly be a case for a referendum is in the case of any decision taken to join a single currency, since that clearly isn’t a matter that is likely to be determined before a general election.”Meanwhile Tory Eurosceptics pointed up the absence from Mr Major’s statement of any reference to reform of the Common Fisheries Policy, on which the Government had promised to act, and they questioned the lack of opposition to monetary union.John Redwood, the former Welsh secretary, complained of “daily damage” to the British fishing industry and urged the Government to consider unilateral action if it failed to get support for reform from other EU states.Mr Major said opting out of the CFP would not be in the interests of the industry.
If you have no fault, you are signing a contract which is meaningless.Middle-aged women who have spent a long time raising a family will be told they are being ejected from their marriage without reasons.”The Government insists the Bill strengthens the institution of marriage and the cooling-off period will slow down divorces, giving couples more chance to settle their differences.Mr Leigh said there was growing support for his proposals from Christian family groups and that some ministers could back him in the lobbies.The Bill was opposed in the Lords by the peers’ former Conservative leader, Baroness Young, who is concerned about the effect of marriage breakdown on children.The Government relied on the backing of Labour’s front bench and will do so again when the Bill is debated after the Easter Recess.. It expects to be able to win with Labour support but yesterday’s delay heartened those opposed to the measure.Mr Leigh said he was confident he could win support from ministers and a large group of backbenchers unhappy with the changes planned by the Lord Chancellor, Lord Mackay of Clashfern, in the Family Law Bill.The measure seeks to introduce no-fault divorces for the first time and to give couples a 12-month cooling-off period before they can sign a statement leading to a final divorce.One amendment, insisting on guilt being considered, would require the court to be satisfied that one of the parties had committed adultery and that they had lived apart for a continuous period of at least a year; or that one of the parties had behaved in an intolerable way; or that they they had lived apart for at least two years.Other amendments would increase the cooling-off period to 18 months or two years where one party did not consent to the divorce or where there were children under 16.Mr Leigh said: “It sends out the wrong message to young people embarking on the most important decision of their lives. Ministers denied they were retreating.The delay was welcomed by the Bill’s opponents, who believe they can use the postponement to build up opposition to the measure.Edward Leigh, a minister who was sacked by John Major, is leading the Commons campaign against the measure with other right-wing senior Conservative backbench MPs: Dame Jill Knight, John Patten, the former education secretary and John Redwood, the leadership challenger.They tabled amendments to the Bill yesterday to tighten grounds for divorce by insisting on fault-based divorce and doubling the proposed cooling- off period to two years before a divorce can go through.The Government has already given way to opponents by allowing a free vote on key sections. COLIN BROWN
Chief Political Correspondent
The Government was forced to delay the next stage of the controversial Family Law Bill last night as Tory rebels said they would try to defeat key parts of the reforms to divorce.The Lord Chancellor’s Office had to postpone the committee stage of the Bill, due today, after the Government decided to rush emergency anti- terrorism legislation through the Commons.
He was in the care of my parents while Alan Waldock was in jail in Portugal. But he went back to live with his father after he was cleared of the murder. Christopher loved both his parents.”A report will be made to the coroner.. He was being comforted by relatives last night.He added: “Christopher has been through a lot after the death of his mother. Before his suspension PC Waldock had been based at Clifford Street, Byker, Newcastle, where he worked part-time in the central operations control room.Mrs Waldock’s distraught parents and her brother, Det Sgt Alan Barber, of the Northumbria police fraud squad, always held PC Waldock responsible for her death.Det Sgt Barber said yesterday that news of his father’s death had left Christopher distressed and in a state of shock. He was detained at a police station for questioning over allegations relating to the use of a number of credit cards.He was suspended from the Northumbria force in July 1995 during an investigation into the allegations and was eventually charged to appear before South- East Northumberland magistrates at Bedlington, tomorrow.