They really don’t want you to have a referendum

Labour is clearly rattled by the row over it reneging on its promise of a referendum on the EU Constitution. Not content with threatening to withdraw the whip from Labour MPs who support honouring this manifesto commitment, Labour is engaged in a desperate attempt to discredit the cross-party ‘I want a referendum campaign’.

Europe Minister Jim Murphy is reacting with panic to the planned ballot in his constituency of East Renfrewshire. His local Labour party has sent out a leaflet which is filled with—to put it politely—misleading statements. First, they claim that the ballot has been organised by the Conservative Party—which it hasn’t. Then, they claim that it is not a secret ballot—when it is, run by Electoral Reform Services.

Murphy’s reaction seems positively calm when compared to Andy Slaughter’s. The MP for Acton, Ealing and Shepherds Bush completely lost his rag at a recording of the Week In Westminster last week, storming out of the studio after firing off a choice expletive.