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“Stop moaning or leave the EU, Britain is told” An influential German politician has fired a warning shot at British moves to hold a referendum on the European constitution. Elmar Brok, a centre-Right MEP and close ally of German chancellor Angela Merkel, effectively told Britain to sign up to the so-called reforming treaty or consider pulling out of the EU. He insisted that the new draft was substantially different from the "old" constitution and that Britain had "got what it wanted" with a series of opt-outs and "red lines". "Gordon Brown's government has said there is no justification for a referendum and the UK should stick to this commitment," said Brok, the European parliament's representative on inter-governmental negotiations on the treaty. "It would be very unfair of the UK if, having more or less got what it wanted in the new treaty, it would then turn round and put this to a popular vote." Brok, a member of the European convention that drafted the old constitution, asked: "The UK got its various opt-outs so what's the problem? How would it seem to other EU member states if Britain were now to hold a referendum? For me, that would undermine the negotiations on the treaty and even go as far as to question Britain's credibility as an EU member. "Britain is a valued member of the EU but we should perhaps remember that the treaty contains an article which gives any member state the right to leave the EU if it so wishes."
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