Conservative Hypocrisy on Europe

8.33.01pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 26th Apr 2004

Since the election of Michael Howard as the leader of the dishevelled Tory party it is very unclear what, if any, are the party's policies on Europe.

In the absence of any policy it is worth reminding people that the Tory party are historically split on Europe. They cannot agree amongst themselves on whether the UK should play a full part in the development of the EU or whether the country should lag behind while its continental partners reap the benefits of playing a full and active role in the EU.

The Tories cannot be trusted over Europe. They bicker and fight amongst themselves and are more interested in saving the pound than saving the British economy.

If they cannot agree amongst themselves how will they be able to defend the interests of the UK in Brussels and Strasbourg?

Here are a few examples of Tory hypocrisy ands splits on Europe.

1. The Tories are split on the Euro. On the one hand Ken Clarke says yes on the other hand Michael Howard says it is right for the Tory party to oppose the Euro.

2. Ian Taylor, a senior Tory and former minister branded Iain Duncan Smith's campaign against the European constitution as 'bogus' and rash. (Observer 25th May 2003).

3. Ken Clarke accused the Tory leadership of raising 'fanciful alarms' about European May 2003. He said, " I hope we don't fight European elections on the basis of just raising people's fanciful alarms about Franco-German takeovers, tyranny and all the rest of it. But that has been the substance of European debate for the last few years." (Guardian 28th May 2003).