This story comes to us from The Telegraph;
Mr Hannan, a leading Eurosceptic, became the Tory spokesman on legal affairs in the European Parliament in September.
But last night on his Telegraph blog, Mr Hannan, the Conservative MEP for South East England, said he would be returning to the back benches in order to campaign for direct democracy that will see power in the hands of individual citizens.
Mr Hannan's resignation comes as David Cameron said he could not longer consider holding a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty now that it had been ratified by all 27 European Union countries.
He has instead decided to concentrate on clawing back some EU policies and never again allow powers to be passed to Brussels without a vote in Britain.
In his blog, Mr Hannan argues that the issue of referendums goes beyond Europe and the Lisbon Treaty.
"I want open primaries, popular initiative procedures, elected sheriffs, self-financing councils, an end to quangos, recall mechanisms and, yes, referendums – lots and lots of referendums," he wrote.
Mr Hannan, whose withering attack on Gordon Brown in which he likened him to a "Brezhnev era apparatchik" became an internet hit, added: "We need a broad movement within the Conservative Party that will push for referendums, citizens' initiatives and the rest of the paraphernalia of direct democracy.
"I don't just mean a referndum on Europe - though, naturally, that is the obvious place to start. I mean full-on Helvetic people power... I have returned to the back benches in order to concentrate on building such a movement."
Mr Hannan added that his decision was not an attack on Mr Cameron's decision to no longer hold a Lisbon Treaty referendum.
"Don’t misunderstand me: I voted for David Cameron as leader, I like him, and I reckon he’d be a million times better than Gordon Brown as Prime Minister. One of his strengths is that, unlike Gordon Brown, he doesn’t mind people disagreeing with him," he wrote.
"Well, then. This Conservative is for a referendum: a proper, deep-cleansing referendum that will settle whether our country remains subordinate, or becomes self-governing."
Well I am going to attack Cameron for being a turncoat, cowardly, and backpedalling swine. He had better come through on what he promised or else there will be hell to pay. We are not goin to tolerate any further betrayal by self serving, so-called elitist scumbags in either house any longer. The referendum will be carried out either through peaceful or non-peaceful means. It is up to Cameron to decide which way England is going to pull out of the EU; either way, she IS leaving.
Mr. Hannan; we are all very inspired by your efforts and words but we demand action before we afford respect. You must understand that in order to lead this country or make anything happen, you must allow the people, as you have stated, to feel as if they have some say in the direction of this country again. We do not want the EU, we do not want immigration, we do not give a damn for France or their needs for us to absorb those hordes they do not want or cannot afford to support on welfare, and we want criminals eradicated from our streets. Whoever steps up to these and a host of other demands we have had for bloody YEARS, then we shall give him that mandate with an overwhelming majority. But don't think for one minute that we are going to sit for another decade watching this decay take place any longer. It simply will not be allowed.
Britain; we are at a crossroads and one which favours us immensely. We must take advantage of this and use our might, our exhaustion, and our anger to drive our candidate in the direction he must go. We must not allow them to dictate policy any longer. That belongs to us and us alone. We must fight and fight we will. The time for yanking about while the Marxists ransack our nations with filth are at an end. It is time a politician ceases being a politician and becomes a soldier for Britain. That is the very least that we will accept from this day forward.
What Dan Hannan is saying about grassroots democracy is admirable but I don't see how promoting that is mutually exclusive from working within the post-Lisbon framework. For example, see www.right2bet.net for the first campaign to try and utilise Lisbon's provision for citizens' initiatives. I'm sure that grassroots campaigns like right2bet can make a difference, but they need support and they need to be given a chance.
Posted by: Jonny Burns | November 06, 2009 at 12:51 PM