David Cameron and broken promises

I just wanted to add to my list of David Cameron's broken promises, and particularly what he said when he promised the British people a referendum on the Lisbon treaty/EU Constitution. So here it is, this is what he said on 26 September 2007 in The Sun newspaper. He picked The Sun deliberately because he knew it had the most readers of any paper and would have the most influence over the outcome of an election.

'I’ve got a couple of simple questions for Gordon Brown.What makes you think you can break your promises to the British people? And what makes you think you can change the way our country is governed without asking the British people first? There’s a simple answer to both questions: Arrogance. And when it comes to Europe, arrogance is what we’ve seen from Labour time and time again. It’s the arrogance that says: “We, the powerful elites, know best.”It’s the arrogance that puts more and more decisions in the hands of bureaucrats that no one’s ever heard of and no one can ever get rid of if they do a bad job. And it’s the arrogance that Gordon Brown displays when he says we don’t need a referendum on the European constitution.

Labour’s last Election manifesto could not have been clearer on the EU constitution. It said: “We will put it to the British people in a referendum, and campaign wholeheartedly for a Yes vote.”And just two months ago, Gordon Brown said: “The manifesto is what we put to the public. We’ve got to honour that manifesto.“That is an issue of trust with me and the electorate.”Now he’s done a massive EU-turn.

I think this kind of shameless arrogance is the big cancer eating away at trust in politics. Who can be surprised that people have less faith in politicians if they break their promises so casually? Why should anyone bother to vote if the real decisions that affect our lives are made somewhere else? This is the 21st Century. People are demanding? and getting? more and more control over their lives. Many decisions that once used to be made by the “powers that be” are now in your hands? And that’s a great thing.

These days, no one should have to take what they’re given any more. That’s why I believe so strongly that we should have a referendum on the European constitution. Because it would transfer power from our elected Parliament to the EU’s unelected bureaucrats, I would campaign for a resounding NO vote. And because it includes the power to transfer even more power from Westminster to Brussels, without even the need for a new treaty, this could be our last chance to stop the EU juggernaut. Gordon Brown should be in no doubt: If he’s got the courage to hold an early election, as he should, our referendum pledge will be right there in our manifesto, giving the British people a clear choice.

But we shouldn’t have to wait for a General Election to get the referendum we need. Today we are launching a new campaign, “Don’t Let Brown Let EU Down” to keep the pressure up. Labour MPs in Parliament today were elected on a manifesto promise that their Government would hold a referendum on the European constitution. So let’s hold them to it. By going to our website, conservatives.com Sun readers can see if their local MP is Labour, then send them a letter asking them to tell Gordon Brown to keep Labour’s manifesto promise.

When Parliament returns in the autumn, we will hold a vote demanding the Government gives Britain a referendum on the European constitution. Sun readers will then be able to judge whether Labour MPs and Gordon Brown can be trusted. When he took over as Prime Minister, Gordon Brown told us he would be “humble” and that he would listen to the people. Well, if he breaks his referendum promise now, everyone will know that was just the same old spin from a Labour Party that hasn’t changed.'

Well there you have it, I think we can pretty much say that David Cameron is just the same as Gordon Brown and Tony Blair, if you needed proof there it is, in black and white.