PRESS RELEASE : Ten Years of David Cameron: Ten Years of Broken Promises on the EU
The press release issued by Vote Leave on 6 December 2015.
David Cameron marks ten years as Leader of the Conservative Party on 6 December. Over the last decade, David Cameron has broken ten key promises he made to change the EU – a broken promise for every year.
BROKEN PROMISE 1: Taking back control over social and employment laws
In the special Question Time debate between David Cameron and David Davis in November 2005, David Cameron said: ‘I think that we should have a very clear strategic imperative, which is that we need to bring back the powers over social policy and employment policy that are causing so much damage to British business.’
He repeated that promise in March 2007, saying that ‘it will be a top priority for the next Conservative government to restore social and employment legislation to national control’ (The Guardian, 6 March 2007, link).
Yet neither of the Governments David Cameron has led have taken back control of any powers in social or employment law – and on 1 December 2015 George Osborne admitted to the Treasury Select Committee that these important areas formed no part of the Government’s renegotiation with the EU.
BROKEN PROMISE 2: A ‘complete opt-out from the Charter of Fundamental Rights’
In 2009, David Cameron promised to negotiate ‘a complete opt-out from the Charter of Fundamental Rights’ (speech on EU, 4 November 2009, link).
Yet this forms no part of his renegotiation. Philip Hammond has now admitted that ‘the Charter of Fundamental Rights is enshrined in the European Union architecture. We have no proposals in the package we have put forward that would disengage from that’ (European Scrutiny Committee, 17 November 2015, link).
BROKEN PROMISE 3: Stopping the ECJ overruling our criminal law
In 2009, David Cameron promised to ‘limit … the European Court of Justice’s jurisdiction over criminal law to its pre-Lisbon level’ (speech on EU, 4 November 2009, link).
Since then, he has done nothing to limit the jurisdiction of the ECJ. In fact, in November 2014, the Government opted back in to 35 justice and home affairs measures including the European Arrest Warrant, accepting the jurisdiction of the ECJ over them – an irreversible decision which the Government has no plans to terminate.
BROKEN PROMISE 4: Changing EU treaties before the referendum
David Cameron used to make promises about ‘treaty change that I’ll be putting in place before the referendum’ (The Daily Telegraph, 5 January 2014, link).
On 16 November 2015, the Minister for Europe David Lidington said: ‘Our timetable for referendum by the end of 2017 means that you just cannot [have] treaty negotiation and 28 national ratifications within that timeframe’ (The Herald, 16 November 2015, link).
And this week the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, killed off that promise entirely, saying: ‘it’s impossible to change the [EU] treaty before the referendum’ (The Guardian, 2 December 2015, link).
BROKEN PROMISE 5: Stopping EU migrants coming to the UK without a job offer
Just last year, David Cameron promised that ‘we want EU jobseekers to have a job offer before they come here’ (speech at JCB, 28 November 2014, link).
Yet this forms no part of the renegotiation he started less than six months later.
BROKEN PROMISE 6: Removing EU jobseekers after six months
In the same speech, David Cameron promised that ‘if an EU jobseeker has not found work within six months, they will be required to leave’ (speech at JCB, 28 November 2014, link).
Yet EU law – which the Government is not seeking to change – prevents the removal of jobseekers who are seeking work and have a genuine chance of finding it, regardless of how long they have been in the UK (ECJ, 15 September 2015, link).
BROKEN PROMISE 7: Ending EU laws which harm our NHS
David Cameron promised that his Government was ‘committed to revising the [working time] directive at EU level to give the NHS the flexibility it needs to deliver the best and safest service to patients. We will work urgently to bring that about’ (Hansard, 18 January 2012, col. 746, link).
Almost four years later, nothing has come of this ‘urgent’ work – and on 1 December 2015, George Osborne confirmed to the Treasury Select Committee that this formed no part of the Government’s renegotiation.
BROKEN PROMISE 8: Stopping the European Parliament meeting in two places
The Conservative Party’s manifesto for the 2009 European elections pledged that ‘the European Parliament must end its absurdly wasteful practice of meeting in Strasbourg as well as Brussels’ (link).
The Conservative Party topped the poll in those elections – yet David Cameron has done nothing about this wasteful duplication, which costs European taxpayers over €100 million a year, and Downing Street has confirmed that this forms no part of the Government’s renegotiation (10 November 2015, link).
BROKEN PROMISE 9: Reforming the Common Agricultural Policy
David Cameron promised in his manifesto earlier this year to ‘push for further reform of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy’ (Conservative Party Manifesto 2015, p. 21, link).
But he is not pushing for any such reform as part of his renegotiation. Indeed, Downing Street has admitted that ‘we have never mentioned this in the context of the renegotiation’ (10 November 2015, link).
BROKEN PROMISE 10: Reforming the EU’s Structural Funds
David Cameron also promised in his 2015 manifesto to seek ‘further reform of … Structural Funds’ (Conservative Party Manifesto 2015, p. 73, link).
Again, he is not pushing for any such reform as part of his renegotiation – and Downing Street has admitted that ‘we have never mentioned this in the context of the renegotiation’ (10 November 2015, link).
