Here – thanks to Politics Home – is what Cameron has to say on the No camp’s victory in the Irish referendum:
“The Treaty is now dead … It would be the height of arrogance for Gordon Brown to press ahead with the Treaty – if this is not dead, then we need a referendum in this country so we can put the final nail in the coffin.”
He’s right, of course. It would be the height of arrogance for Brown to press ahead with the Treaty. And we do need a referendum in this country, as we always have done. I suspect we’ll get the worst of all possible outcomes though – Brown will trudge onwards with this dead document. And we’ll be denied the say we both deserve and expect.
But here’s a thought from the leftfield: Brown could actually offer a referendum in order to prolong what has been – on the whole, and by recent standards – a couple of good weeks for Labour. Yes, it would be risky – after all, the most likely outcome is another victory for the No campaign; something that Team Brown doesn’t especially want. But if the Irish referendum has killed the Treaty anyway, that might not matter. Besides, a British referendum would fit the whole “I’m listening to the people” narrative that our Prime Minister’s been spinning.
Of course, it would be a highly cynical move by the Government. But that’s never stopped them before. And there’s always the chance that people wouldn’t see through it. What do CoffeeHousers think?
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