Exhilarating, isn’t it? A referendum on Britain’s continued membership of the European Union is at hand. For the first time in a generation, there’s a real possibility that Britain might leave. With that prospect so tantalisingly close, it’s tempting to want to rush ahead. ‘Bring it on!’ many regular readers will say. Hold on. Let’s make sure we maximise our chances of winning.
Like it, or not, a great many voters – despite all that Brussels red tape and all those ghastly EU commissioners – have yet to be convinced that we should leave. If you think that winning over fifty percent of the votes is easy, just cast your mind back to election night in your constituency…
For almost forty years, we Brits have complained about Europe. We’ve found the over regulation irksome and the arrogance of Brussels officials overbearing. We have muttered and grumbled. But every time we have started to contemplate the alternatives, the political elite have bought us off with the promise that things are about to change. Maastricht, we were told, was the high-water mark of federalism. Deregulation, Tony Blair insisted, would make Europe globally competitive. Subsidiarity would close the democratic deficit.
Of course, none of it ever happened. But the idea that things would be different has been used to keep us in. Let’s not fall for it again. That is why we should allow David Cameron time to negotiate his new deal. Show us what difference looks like, Prime Minister. Take your time. Don’t rush things with Jean Claude Juncker. Why just a weekend at Chequers? Invite him to stay for the summer, if it helps.
The longer that the Prime Minister takes negotiating his new deal, the more evident it will become that there is no fundamentally new relationship with the EU on offer. Indeed, the Prime Minister is not even pushing for it. The primary purpose of Mr Cameron’s new deal is not to change our relationship with the EU, but to keep us in – just like Harold Wilson’s faux deal all those years ago.
Once it becomes apparent that things are not fundamentally going to change unless we leave, many of those undecided voters will decide that enough is enough. The only way to get the trade-only arrangements with Europe is to vote to quit the EU. Another brandy, Jean Claude?
This post first appeared on TalkCarswell.com.
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