>>Jospin reveals 'superstate' plan
By George Jones, Benedict Brogan and Andrew
Sparrow
TONY BLAIR was forced on to the defensive over
Europe last night after Lionel Jospin, the French
prime minister, outlined his vision of an EU-wide
"economic government", harmonised business
taxes and a European constitution.
The Tories claimed that M Jospin had "let the cat
out of the bag" by disclosing a superstate agenda.
Labour, clearly embarrassed, sought to divert
attention by claiming that Mr Blair was powering towards
another land slide victory on June 7 and the
Conservatives were facing electoral meltdown.
At the start of the last full week of campaigning,
Alastair Campbell, Mr Blair's spokesman, said that
William Hague's campaign against the euro was
not working and Labour was more trusted than
the Conservatives on Europe. Mr Campbell said
that Labour would have a "relentless focus" on
the economy, public services and Mr Blair's
"leadership" for the remainder of the campaign.
But M Jospin's demand for closer integration
ensured that Europe and the fate of the pound
dominated the agenda for the fourth day rather
than Labour's planned issue of more lottery
funding for disadvantaged communities.
While M Jospin said that he favoured a Europe of
independent nation states and rejected the
federal model proposed by Germany, he called for
greater integration of economic and social policies.
Unfair competition between national tax regimes
was "unacceptable" and harmonising corporate
taxation would eventually be needed.
He called for a "European social treaty", with
labour rules at the European level, notably on
lay-offs, wage policy and the quality of
employment; harmonisation of criminal law; the
creation of a European public prosecutor's office,
and a European police force.
M Jospin said that for two years the euro had
acted as a shield against international financial
crises and competitive devaluations. An "economic
government" was needed for the euro zone, with
funds that could be used to support countries hit
by world economic turmoil.
Although Labour denied that Downing Street had
pleaded with Mr Jospin to delay his speech until
after June 7, Mr Blair mounted a damage-limitation
exercise. Interrupting his campaigning in the
North-East, he said that he did not agree with
harmonising taxes across Europe - and had won
that argument every time it had been raised.
Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, chaired Labour's
daily press conference and said that the
Government was opposed to corporate tax
harmonisation. "We would never support it."
The Tories however, claimed that M Jospin's vision
of Europe bore out their warnings that Britain
would surrender further political sovereignty if
Labour won the election.
Mr Hague said M Jospin's speech was "a great
embarrassment" for Labour. "They are trying to
pretend that they won't give away more of the
rights and powers of Britain, but they do that in
every negotiation and every time they go to a
European summit," he said.
He added: "They have a track record on these
things over the past four years, saying 'We don't
have to worry about anything', but then signing up
to proposals from the French government at
European summits on a regular basis."
The Tories kept up the pressure by claiming that
the cost of converting to the euro could reach £36
billion - £1,500 for every houshold. Although Mr
Brown rejected the figure, he refused to state
what the Government believed the cost would be.
Francis Maude, the shadow foreign secretary,
challenged Mr Blair to guarantee that any
referendum on the euro would not be rigged in
favour of a Yes vote.
Mr Brown slapped down Robin Cook, the Foreign
Secretary, over the terms of the question to be
put in a referendum. On Sunday, Mr Cook said the
question could be "Should Britain be in the single
currency? - yes or no."
The Chancellor said the election campaign was not
the time to speculate on the referendum question
and made clear that he wanted to close the
debate. Although Mr Brown mocked the
Conservatives for running a "single issue"
campaign on Europe, Labour went to considerable
lengths to claim that the euro was not affecting
the campaign.
According to Mr Campbell, Labour's private polling
showed that Lady Thatcher's intervention, when
she said she would never give up the pound, had
been a disaster for the Tories because it showed
that Mr Hague could not escape her shadow.
Labour's own opinion poll showed that it was on
46 per cent (up two), the Tories on 26 (no change)
and the Liberal Democrats on 16 (up three). That
would give Labour a majority of 241 compared to
179 in 1997.<<
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