Motion:
Britain should have a referendum on the EU treaty.
Chair:
Andrew Neil
For the motion:
Neil O’Brien
Andrew Roberts
Rt Hon Lord Lamont of Lerwick
Against the motion :
Sir Stephen Wall
Vernon Bogdanor CBE
David Aaronovitch.
It was like an eclipse. Wednesday’s debate on the EU referendum exactly coincided with a parliamentary vote on the same issue. ‘Over at the Palace of Varieties,’ prophesied Andrew Neil, in the chair, ‘the debate will be dull, predictable and whipped. But here at Intelligence Squared it’ll be lively, wild, and with no foregone conclusion.’ So it proved. This was the rowdiest debate of the season. At one point punches were almost exchanged.
It started with football terrace cheers for Neil O’Brien, a fresh-faced lad who co-founded the ‘I Want A Referendum’ campaign and is blessed with a silver tongue. He said that the essential similarities between the Lisbon treaty and the constitution were revealed by Giscard d’Estaing who let slip that , ‘Public opinion will be led to adopt the provisions of the constitution without them knowing it.’
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