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Subject: Unity Pact Showdown Pledged in Britain;Major Challenges Critics in
Date: Fri, 30 Oct 92 04:28:31 EST
Message-ID: <32.1992Oct30.042831@AmeriCast.com>

Unity Pact Showdown Pledged in Britain;Major Challenges Critics
in Parliament<By Eugene Robinson=Washington Post Foreign Service=

LONDON, Oct.  29 - Prime Minister John Major stepped up the pres-
sure on his critics within the governing Conservative Party to-
day, pledging a "substantive" showdown in the House of Commons
next week over the controversial Maastricht Treaty on European
economic and political union.

Having staked his government's political credibility on the out-
come of the treaty vote, Major now appears to be gambling that he
can win it with the help of the opposition Liberal Democrats,
whose support could offset the rebellious "Euroskeptics" within
Major's own Conservative ranks.

"It would be damaging for Britain if we were unable to ratify the
Maastricht Treaty," a combative Major told the House of Commons
today. "We would lose our influence in Europe. . . . We would be
sending a signal to investors from America, Japan and elsewhere
that they cannot rely on our commitment to Europe."

Earlier this year, Major agreed to hold a preliminary debate on
the treaty before bringing it to Parliament for final approval.
That debate is scheduled to begin next Wednesday, but in the
months since Major made his promise, the political landscape of
Europe has changed.

Following the rejection of the treaty by Danish voters, public
concern arose in many countries about the direction the European
Community was heading. Britain was forced to withdraw from the
EC's system of fixed currency exchange rates - a system that is a
key step on the way toward monetary union.  Voters in France, a
country traditionally in the vanguard of European union, approved
the Maastricht pact by the narrowest of margins.

Meanwhile, a series of missteps by Major's government weakened
his position and gave new impetus to the bloc of Conservative Eu-
roskeptics in the House of Commons.  Since Major has only a 21-
seat majority there, the 40 or so Conservative rebels theoreti-
cally have the power to join with the opposition to defeat the
government on the issue.

But after being battered by opponents all fall - just last week,
the government had to beat a humiliating retreat from its plan to
shut down more than half of Britain's coal mining industry - Ma-
jor has drawn the line at next week's vote on Maastricht. Aides
even suggested he might call a general election if he loses the
vote, although they have now backed away from that threat.

While government officials said they were confident Major would
win the vote, they declined to say just what the House of Commons
would be asked to vote on - a motion that speaks to the substance
of the Maastricht Treaty or a simple procedural motion to adjourn
the debate.  The Labor Party, by far the biggest opposition
force, has indicated that it will likely vote against the govern-
ment next week, even though Labor is much more committed to Euro-
pean union than are the Conservatives.

Without being more specific, Major said today that the vote will
be on a "substantive motion" that will seek support for the
treaty "on its merits."

That means he might still be abandoned by some of the Conserva-
tive rebels, but it also means he will likely be supported by the
Liberal Democrats, whose bloc of 20 votes could make up for the
Conservative defectors.

Paddy Ashdown, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, said today
that as long as the motion is on the substance of the treaty, his
steadfastly pro-European party will support the government. But
if Major calls a procedural vote that could be interpreted as a
vote of confidence, Ashdown said, the Liberal Democrats will op-
pose the government.

Major has spent virtually all his free time this week trying to
charm freshman Conservatives - and trying to strong-arm veterans
- into supporting him next week. Today he held a three-hour ca-
binet meeting at which it was decided, essentially, to go for the
Euroskeptics' collective jugular.  Tonight, he meets with Conser-
vative legislators in another round of his "charm offensive."

The vote is more about Major's political authority than about the
treaty itself. When a final vote on the treaty is eventually
held, probably in several months, the fact that Labor and the Li-
beral Democrats are aligned with most Conservatives in support of
the pact seems to indicate it is likely to pass.

Today, on the floor of the House of Commons, Major seemed to be
enjoying himself as he ridiculed Labor's decision to oppose the
government next week, accusing Labor Party leader John Smith of
switching positions on Europe and hiding behind veils of rhetor-
ic. "Even Salome ran out of veils at seven," Major crowed.<02:24
10-30C9999-----

Copyright 1992, The Washington Post.  This story is from the
Washington Post's Capitol Edition On-Line and is not to be ar-
chived or redistributed.

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