June 18 (Bloomberg) — Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords plan to back Prime Minister Gordon Brown by approving the European Union governing treaty, clearing the way for British ratification of the document rejected by Irish voters.
“We should finish the process, just as the Irish have completed theirs,” Lord Tom McNally, leader of the 76 Liberal Democrats in the upper chamber, said in an interview. “Our intention is to see the bill pass. We’re not going to fall into the Conservative elephant traps along the way.”
The comments indicate that Brown’s Labour government has enough strength in the House of Lords to win final approval for the Lisbon Treaty when lawmakers vote later today. The treaty can only take effect once all 27 EU countries endorse it. Irish voters vetoed it in a referendum last week.
Brown has rebuffed calls from the opposition Conservatives to drop or delay the House of Lords vote, saying Britain should make up its own mind about the treaty. The Conservatives alone don’t have enough strength in the Lords to block the bill.
“It would be a great mistake to sign off on this,” Lord David Howell, deputy leader of the Conservatives in the Lords, said in an interview. If changes are made to reassure the Irish people, “we may have to start the whole ratification process again.”
So far 18 of the EU’s 27 members have ratified the treaty, which is intended to streamline how the bloc is run and would establish a European president and foreign minister.
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