LONDON, Aug 7 (KUNA) -- Anti-EU campaigners accused Sunday British Prime Minister David Cameron of showing "contempt" to voters after a Downing Street aide rejected calls for a referendum on British membership.
Writing on behalf of the prime minister, Cameron's political private secretary Laurence Mann said that the previous referendum on Common Market membership in 1975 produced a "very clear result".
And he said that a "simplistic in/out referendum" would offer an artificial choice which did not represent the full range of opinions in the UK and would be "highly unlikely to settle the question of Britain's membership of the EU at all".
In a letter to Conservative Party member Anita Segar, who had written to Cameron demanding a referendum, Mann said: "The Government believes it much more effective to use the weight of our membership to negotiate and force positive change." And his letter, obtained by the media here also urged her not to lose sight of the EU's "very useful work" on global competitiveness, global warming and global poverty, adding: "These are compelling arguments for why we believe Britain should be an active member." The anti-EU Independence Party leader here Nigel Farage said that the letter amounted to a "clear snub of the will of the electorate".
"I think we have finally seen the Prime Minister's true colours when it comes to the EU," said Farage.
"He's a fan and despite the weak eurosceptic posturing we have witnessed recently by parts of the Conservative Party, it is clear that Cameron has no intention of letting us have our say on future EU membership.
"The argument that the 1975 referendum delivered a clear mandate for membership is incredibly poor. "Firstly, that was when the British people were asked about the European Economic Community.
Over the last 36 years the EEC has morphed into the EU with its tentacles now reaching far and wide.
"Secondly, anyone under the age of 53 was not able to vote in 1975. By refusing a referendum it shows utter contempt for a massive chunk of the population." (end) he.sd KUNA 071931 Aug 11NNNN