There might just have been an argument to support the Lisbon Treaty (LT) in the 2008 Irish referendum, although I do not see it myself, but it is impossible to make a valid case to vote in favor of the LT in the forthcoming October 2009 referendum, as this second referendum in itself is a massive betrayal of the democratic will of the Irish people. At the 2008 referendum, which took place a year a...

Clever Clegg the clog dancer has announced his great idea. Deny people the referendum the Libs promised: a referendum on the EU constitution. Give them a referendum they don’t want on in our out. ...

No, not that referendum. We still don't know what will happen in Ireland where they may well have to vote again, as they got the original answer wrong. There will be no referendum in the UK or in Denmark, the country we are talking about. However, a little while ago the Prime Minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, announced that he was thinking of holding one or more referendums (that is the correc...

Daniel Hannan, in a powerful explanation as to why we still need a referendum, writes: "This Conservative is for a referendum: a proper, deep-cleansing referendum that will settle whether our country remains subordinate, or becomes self-governing. Now who will stand on either hand and keep the bridge with me?" I will. You have to be over 52 years old - born before 1957 when Macmillan had just beco...

Do you think he has mistaken a 'referendum' for Clearasil? Isn't it really weird language to use? "This Conservative is for a referendum: a proper, deep-cleansing referendum that will settle whether our country remains subordinate, or becomes self-governing".

I am confused about what the forthcoming referendum is going to be about. My understanding was that the referendum would be the one legislated for in Section 4 of the Government of Wales Act 2006, which will only give powers to the Assembly to legislate in those areas that it already has executive responsibility for. However in an interview with the Total Politics magazine Plaid Cymru's Chief Exec...

The issue on everyone's mind, of course. They aren't saying that they'd campaign for a No vote. They have never said that. This whole referendum business is a distraction. They pointedly failed to put down a Second Reading amendment which did not mention a referendum, but simply rejected the Treaty itself because of what was in it. In office, they would have signed it without protest and ratified ...

Look, I don't want to be a bore about this, but why does everyone keep insisting that there will be a second referendum in Ireland - Sarko's remarks have led to speculation about a referendum I've argued before that the risks and gains from Brian Cowen's perspective are wildly asymmetrical: if he won, he'd be slightly better off than now; if he lost, he'd almost certainly have to resign, and would...

Neil Harding draws attention to Alan Johnson's call for a referendum on AV+. The Government promised a referendum on whether voters wanted to move to an alternative electoral system or stick with first-past-the-post in its 1997 manifesto. Despite the Jenkins' Commission's report, such a referendum has not been held. It is about time that the Government honoured its 1997 manifesto pledge and held a...

The news from the Labour Party is that they will legislate before the general election for a referendum on PR – to be held after the next general election. The referendum would be on AV (the alternative vote versus the status quo). The proposal raises two issues: timing of referendum and choice of options within it. My own