Expenses flap could have EU consequences

BRUSSELS, June 3 (UPI) -- British voter fury over dubious expenses claimed by members of Parliament may have a big effect on European Union politics, analysts say.

As Britons go to the polls Thursday for city and county elections, Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Labor Party government is being shaken by the expenses scandal and Cabinet defections. Should the labor Party be drubbed, momentum for early nationwide general elections will mount with the Conservative Party seen as the likely beneficiary, the EU Observer reported Wednesday.

And should the "euroskeptical" Tories emerge as the winners of national elections, it could profoundly change the prospects of the EU's Lisbon Treaty coming into effect, analysts say. Tory leader David Cameron has reportedly said that he would move to hold a referendum on the treaty.

The House of Commons voted last year turn down such a referendum on the grounds that the EU treaty does not have any constitutional implications for Britain. But Tories disagree, calling it a "manifesto" that abridges Britain's right to act unilaterally in some areas.

Analysts told the EU Observer that should the treaty be put to a British referendum it would lose, sounding its death knell and plunging the EU into disunity.