By KUNA
London : British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has cleared the first hurdle on the way to ratifying the controversial EU reform treaty, securing House of Commons support with only a minor revolt among Labour backbenchers.
While the Prime Minister was flying back from a tour of China and India, the Government won a second reading on the EU (Amendment) Bill last night with a comfortable 138 majority.
But 19 Labour MPs voted against the Bill to ratify the treaty, setting down a marker ahead of a marathon debate on the details of the Bill which will kick off next week, parliamentary commentators said.
The bigger test for Brown is expected to come when MPs get an opportunity to vote on demands for the treaty, signed by the Prime Minister in Lisbon, to be put to a referendum.
He has defied pressure for a plebiscite on the treaty despite a Labour manifesto promise in 2005 that the public would be given a say on the earlier EU Constitution.
Supporters argue the treaty is needed to streamline the EU’s workings following its enlargement to 27 members.
It creates a permanent EU president and a high representative for foreign affairs, as well as a legal personality for the EU, allowing it to sign international treaties.
But critics claim it will transfer more power from London to Brussels as the UK gives up its veto in a number of areas.
Brown insists, however, that Britain’s “red lines” will safeguard national powers over EU policies such as justice and home affairs, social security, tax, foreign policy and defence.
Critics want a referendum, arguing the treaty is virtually unchanged from the now abandoned EU constitution, which was rejected by voters in France and the Netherlands.
The Labour-dominated House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee concluded last Sunday that there was “no material difference” between the treaty and the foreign policy aspects of the constitution.
That echoed earlier findings by the European Scrutiny Committee that the treaty and the constitution were “substantially equivalent”.