Conventional wisdom has it that David Cameron’s decision to make the ‘In’ cause in the European referendum the one that asks Britons to vote ‘Yes’ is one that gives the Prime Minister the upper hand. Saying ‘Yes’ makes people feel good. It’s positive. It’s progressive.
Perhaps that was true in 2008 when Barack Obama swept to power, but times have changed. Last Sunday 61 per cent of Greeks voted ‘No’ to the bailout terms proposed by the country’s creditors. Many commentators argued that ‘no’ had a stronger case, whatever the question, in Greece given its history.
On October 28, 1940, Greek Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas was faced with an ultimatum: allow the Axis powers to occupy Greek territory, or face Mussolini’s army. Now, this is the kind of decision one tends to mull over – but Metaxas was not one to hesitate. ’Òχι’, he told the Italian Ambassador. No.
An annual public holiday, ‘Òχι’ day, now celebrates that moment of reckless insouciance. The re-sult of the referendum has therefore been seen by many as a product of history; defiance, not least of presumptuous powers to the west, is etched into the Greek psyche.
But ‘No’ doesn’t just appeal to Greek voters. Don’t forget that even though Alex Salmond was thrilled to be leading a campaign that asked Scots to vote ‘Yes’, it was the ‘No’ cause that won.
Of course, Cameron’s ‘Yes’ is rather different to the Scottish question, as it approves the status quo, rather than some hopeful leap into the unknown. But it still demands a positive vision, which is quite an ask when it’s the beleaguered European Union that’s in question.
The Prime Minister and pro-Europeans should still take care now that the trend seems to be less for ‘Yes, we can’ and more for ‘no, we’d rather not’.
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