The EU ‘deal’ is a political stitch-up

Almost everything about the EU debate so far has been a fraud.  The ‘Remain’ campaign has lied to the public about what David Cameron achieved in his ‘renegotiation’.  They have lied about the consequences of leaving the EU, in the hope of terrifying us into staying.  And now they are rushing us towards a referendum because the later they leave it the less likely it is that they will get the answer they want.  An innocent might rub their eyes in disbelief that a Conservative Prime Minister with the connivance of nearly the entire political class could be trying to bounce us into such a decision.

But there it is.  And now that the political class has arranged the stitch-up I suppose the rest of us will simply have to try – in the time we have – to un-stich it.

The ‘Remain’ campaign is certainly off to a predictable start.  Setting the tone for the coming months, the Prime Minister this morning said that voting to leave the EU would be a ‘leap in the dark.’

‘Those who want to leave Europe cannot tell you if British businesses would be able to access Europe’s free trade single market, or if working people’s jobs are safe, or how much prices would rise. All they’re offering is a risk at a time of uncertainty – a leap in the dark.’

None of which is true.  Among the things that ‘Leave’ is offering is a return to Parliamentary sovereignty, a more accountable democracy, control of our own borders, freedom to strike trade deals around the world and the right to live by our own laws rather than those forced upon us by unaccountable bureaucrats in other countries.

By contrast, all that David Cameron is offering us is an unreformed relationship inside a political union which he and his colleagues have spent most of their lives railing against.

And neither can David Cameron tell us whether people’s jobs will be safe even if we do what he says and remain in the EU.