If all goes according to David Cameron’s plan, then the EU referendum campaign will be under way very shortly. Cameron himself will be the main figure on the In side of the argument. The Home Secretary Theresa May will also throw herself into the campaign, as Rachel Sylvester wrote this week. Another face of the effort to keep Britain in the EU will be Alan Johnson, the former Home Secretary, who is running the Labour IN campaign.
The Remain side of the argument will, as the above list shows, be able to call upon a formidable amount of political firepower. But what is not yet clear is what kind of Out campaign it will face. Will it be up against a campaign dominated by Nigel Farage, the bombastic Ukip donor Arron Banks, Philip Hollobone in his Union Jack jacket and Peter Bone in his Grassroots Out tie? Or, will it be facing an Out campaign including Michael Gove, Priti Patel and Gisela Stuart?
It doesn’t take long to work out which group Cameron would rather take on: Number 10 would love to be able to portray the Outers as cranks and gadflies.
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