EU, the itch that won’t go away until someone scratches it!

Posted 20 Oct 2011 by Walaa Idris

The politicos are very excited over next week’s EU referendum vote plus there seem to have unity at the top!

With Cameron’s clear signal (PMQs yesterday) that he is against a referendum and now Ed Miliband is said, he intends to whip his MPs to vote against it too. Talks of a split are inevitable, especially when it is a Tory split. Surprisingly, or maybe not, there isn’t a whisper from our coalition partners – I get the feeling they will altogether just sit this one out!

We, Conservatives, have always had a complex relationship with Europe – Cameron and all other leaders knew it – it is the main reason Ken Clarke as charismatic and adorable as he is never managed to get past the first ballot of any leadership contest.

So, will a referendum on Europe split the party? Of course it will for a few a days or so!

However, Tories are disciplined enough to fall back inline and do what’s best for the country and the party – there will unsurprisingly be a few defections here and there and some big figure or two will use this to shine or God knows what…. but in time it will simmer down and will be business as usual.

If we put to one side all the figures, stats and the boring math and just look at the emotional, trust and human nature side of it, we’ll find that 1) the issue of the EU is very politicocentric, most folks outside the SW1X postcode don’t care one iota about being inside or outside Europe unless they are directly touched by it (fishery, farming, some business regulations or by some stupid human rights directive that came down from the continent) and 2) there are too many daily challenges (bills, job security and the daily trials and tribulations) for most people to have the energy to deal with much beyond what they need to cope with.

But having said that, the EU is an itch that will keep on itching until someone scratch and sort it out – neither ignoring nor excusing it will make it go away.

My advice to Cameron will be – don’t whip the vote on Monday. Your MPs (and almost everybody else) know what you think and want, trust them to put this issue to bed once and for all. Especially now that Miliband has jumped on the whipping bandwagon – at least this one is still moving!

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1 comment(s)

Edward Green

Edward Green
20 Oct, 18:22

I’m sorry, Walaa, this will not go away.

Cameron and Milliband appear to be exercising the whip in the same way in support of each other and the Lib-Dems will also want the same result. There will be a three line whip on the Tory Benches but there will still be a significant rebellion. The Lib-Dems will not sit this one out, they will support Cameron, but they will not need the whip to do this anyway.

The rebels will obviously lose heavily, but this will not shut them up or make this go away. The Eurosceptics on the Left are not nearly as much of a problem for Milliband as the Eurosceptics on the right are for Cameron. Although I fail to understand the weird all consuming obsessive hatred for the EU on the political right, I do understand that it will not go away. I’m afraid that you are way too optimistic Walaa.

This is all a shame brought on by the right wingers with their utter hatred of all things EU. Just a bit of patience would see a fantastic opportunity for the UK and everyone else renegotiate their positions in the EU once the Euro has failed. The Delors Project is taking a bit of time to die, but it will die. If the UK is still an active part of the EU when that happens it will be in a fantastic position to get the EU back to the trading bloc that we want and get rid of all the federalist rubbish that we don’t want.

If the Whips take this approach and ask for patience while the Euro fails instead of taking the “do as you’re told, or else!” approach then there may not be a rebellion at all. Or perhaps with that thought I am being too optimistic!

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