The Government is anxious to clear up the de-commissioning issue by the end of the month, which would then allow the transfer of power to Northern Ireland.The next few weeks are expected to see intense political activity, as Tony Blair attempts to reconcile the two sides' positions.. WILLIAM HAGUE is under intense pressure from MPs and newly elected MEPs to pull out of a "federalist" centre-right coalition in the European Parliament. Eurosceptics held meetings at Westminster yesterday to persuade party figures to sever links with the European People's Party (EPP). The MPs, MEPs and shadow cabinet ministers believe the party can no longer be allied with Christian Democrats in Strasbourg, who expressly support the euro and closer political integration. They say the Tories' success in the elections, fought with a strongly anti-euro campaign, makes it impossible to continue the affiliation.
The number of Eurosceptic MEPs in the party has risen to 12, shifting its balance to the right. A meeting on Friday will discuss alignments in Strasbourg.Hardline MEPs were furious yesterday when Edward Macmillan-Scott, leader of the Tory group, suggested it was a question of "when, not if" the party announced it would continue its links with the EPP. His statement broke a truce between pro-euro and anti-euro MEP candidates that none would discuss the issue during the election campaign.The Independent has learnt that a meeting of candidates before the campaign agreed that the decision should be left to Mr Hague and the shadow cabinet after the election.Yesterday he denied claims by Wilfried Martens, outgoing EPP leader, that he had reassured him the party would maintain its links."That's not a very accurate reflection of the discussion with Mr Martens. We will take decisions about that over the coming days or weeks in consultation with MEPs," Mr Hague said.Some pro-European MEPs say the EPP offers a chance to take control of the parliament from the Socialists, but the Tory leader reiterated his stance that the issue was still undecided.
"We have no commitment to anybody about what alignment we will make in the European Parliament; of course, we will now consider this carefully."A Tory source said the case for refusing to deal with the EPP, or at least persuading it to change its policies, was overwhelming "We are in a strong position, with a very solid bloc of 36. We should use that strength and wait for people to come to us A lot of us are unhappy with the EPP.". THE LAWS of political gravity do work after all. For the past two years it has seemed Labour was impregnable and that, for once, a British government would not feel the affliction of mid-term blues. But last night those blues arrived with a vengeance, when Labour slumped to 28.0 per cent of the vote, lower than the 28.3 per cent it scored under Michael Foot in the 1983 general election Its defeat was the more startling for being so unexpected. The one poll published last week, by ICM in The Guardian, put Labour on 37 per cent, six points ahead of the Tories. Separately, ICM did a poll for the BBC that involved re-interviewing people on Thursday and Friday and counting only those who said they had voted. When the BBC's results programme went on air on Sunday, it said only that the election was "too close to call", giving no figures.
In fact, the poll put Labour on 33 per cent (five points above their share), the Tories on 31 (five too low), the Liberal Democrats on 17 (four too high) and others on 19 (four too low).All analysis of the result must be tempered by the low turn-out - 23 per cent across Britain. However, two conventional explanations should be disregarded It was not caused by "voter fatigue". London has had no other elections this year, yet the turn-out was in line with the national average. Turn-out in Wales was the highest in Britain, at 30 per cent, despite the fact that six weeks ago the Welsh endured local elections and a two-vote contest for its new assembly.Nor should the turn-out, and Labour's showing, be ascribed to contentment with the Government. Labour had its worst losses in its traditional inner- city areas, where few have mortgages and many live on state benefits. They are the voters who have started to grow disenchanted with the Government but, rather than switch to the Tories or some other party, they made their protest by staying at home.That said, there are two big reasons why the result is unlikely to lead to Tony Blair's replacement by William Hague at the next general election First, European elections often produce quirky results.
Remember the Greens' 15 per cent in 1989, which was not matched by any other election before or afterwards? European elections are nationwide contests in which no executive power is at stake. They are akin to national by-elections - a chance to send a message to the Government without getting rid of it.Secondly, the switch to PR made a difference. This is most obvious in the 23 per cent vote for "others"; Nationalists, Greens, UK Independence Party. Voters could, and did, plump for smaller parties, knowing that this time their action need not end up on the scrapheap marked "wasted vote". The evidence is that Labour suffered more than the Tories, with a late switch of some Labour supporters to the Greens. And do not think that the UK Independence Party gained most of its votes at the expense of the Tories. Their strongest region was the South West, where they seem to have picked up support from Liberal Democrats.Yes, that does seem odd, given the pro-European stand of Paddy Ashdown's party.