RandBlade
12-11-2007, 07:47 AM
Brown to miss EU treaty ceremony (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7138316.stm)
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44186000/jpg/_44186863_brown_afp203.jpg
Mr Brown is due to face senior MPs on the day of the signing
No 10 says the PM will not be able to attend the ceremony because he is to be grilled by a committee of senior MPs.
But arrangements have been made for Mr Brown to leave London straight after the Commons Liaison Committee hearing.
He will miss the official signing event but will join EU heads of government at lunch and will sign the treaty later.
The EU Reform treaty has proved politically controversial, with the Tories arguing that it is substantially the same as the abandoned EU Constitution, on which a referendum was promised by Labour.
Ratification needed
But the government says the two documents are different, making a public vote on the treaty unnecessary.
Mr Brown has been invited to Lisbon by the Portuguese government - which holds the EU presidency - along with the leaders of the other 26 EU member states.
The EU Constitution was thrown out in 2005 after it was rejected by Dutch and French voters.
The treaty, once it is signed, still has to be ratified by the UK and all other member countries before coming into force. Foreign Secretary David Miliband is expected to sign the treaty on the UK's behalf Brown has been likened to Macavity the cat, who is never there when the "dirty work" needs to be done. Now he won't even represent the country in signing the EU Constitution, I mean treaty.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44186000/jpg/_44186863_brown_afp203.jpg
Mr Brown is due to face senior MPs on the day of the signing
No 10 says the PM will not be able to attend the ceremony because he is to be grilled by a committee of senior MPs.
But arrangements have been made for Mr Brown to leave London straight after the Commons Liaison Committee hearing.
He will miss the official signing event but will join EU heads of government at lunch and will sign the treaty later.
The EU Reform treaty has proved politically controversial, with the Tories arguing that it is substantially the same as the abandoned EU Constitution, on which a referendum was promised by Labour.
Ratification needed
But the government says the two documents are different, making a public vote on the treaty unnecessary.
Mr Brown has been invited to Lisbon by the Portuguese government - which holds the EU presidency - along with the leaders of the other 26 EU member states.
The EU Constitution was thrown out in 2005 after it was rejected by Dutch and French voters.
The treaty, once it is signed, still has to be ratified by the UK and all other member countries before coming into force. Foreign Secretary David Miliband is expected to sign the treaty on the UK's behalf Brown has been likened to Macavity the cat, who is never there when the "dirty work" needs to be done. Now he won't even represent the country in signing the EU Constitution, I mean treaty.