Cameron to Promise Referendum by 2017 on U.K. Leaving EU

[Redfairen]

Source: Bloomberg

Prime Minister David Cameron will tomorrow promise a referendum on whether Britain should leave the European Union, allowing U.K. voters to decide on breaking up the 27-nation bloc.

Promising to make the case to remain in the EU once he has negotiated a return of some powers to Britain, Cameron will say the democratic consent for the status quo in Europe is “wafer thin.” He will pledge to put the question to a popular vote by the end of 2017, if re-elected in two years.

“It is time for the British people to have their say,” Cameron will say in a speech in central London, according to extracts released by his office “It is time to settle this European question in British politics.”

Cameron is responding to pressure from lawmakers in his Conservative Party for looser ties with the EU or an outright departure from the political union. European leaders have rejected his calls to renegotiate membership terms. His Liberal Democrat coalition partners and the opposition Labour Party also reject the plans and the U.S. has expressed concern.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-22/cameron-to-promise-referendum-by-2017-on-u-k-leaving-eu.html

[dipsydoodle]

1. In-out EU referendum by end of 2017, David Cameron promises

To the delight of Eurosceptics, the prime minister will throw down the gauntlet to his fellow EU leaders to agree to a revision of Britain's membership terms within two and a half years of the next general election or risk triggering a British exit.

In his long-awaited speech on Europe, which has been repeatedly delayed since the autumn, Cameron will pledge no rest until he wins because democratic consent for the EU in Britain is "wafer thin".

The prime minister will say: "The next Conservative manifesto in 2015 will ask for a mandate from the British people for a Conservative government to negotiate a new settlement with our European partners in the next parliament.

And when we have negotiated that new settlement, we will give the British people a referendum with a very simple in or out choice to stay in the EU on these new terms; or come out altogether. It will be an in-out referendum.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/jan/22/eu-referendum-2017-david-cameron

[Piazza Riforma]

2. The Tories are pushing for a referendum on the EU.

Playing for the UKIP vote?

[T_i_B]

3. Yep

The trouble is, UKIP are the equivalent of your tea-baggers. Bending over backwards for UKIP types will make the Tories less attractive to anyone who isn't on the hard right of the political spectrum.

[Turborama]

4. Deflecting attention from the rich gamblers who caused the recession, & Osborne's austerity frenzy

Last edited Wed Jan 23, 2013, 09:29 AM - Edit history (1)

...failure.

Typical CONservative scapegoating aided by blatant xenophobic/racist propaganda in the tabloids and the Torygraph.

The "enemies" are "Europe" and "immigrants", which of course gives a free pass to the real culprits for the state the UK is in.

[pampango]

5. Well said, Turborama. Blame "Europe" and "immigrants" (classic "thems") and

the UK's rich escape their responsibility. Easy to see why it is the right (Conservatives and UKIP) is pushing this.

[T_i_B]

6. The far left also oppose the EU

The difference is that where the likes of UKIP tend to see the EU as a giant socialist conspiracy, the likes of the Socialist Workers Party view the EU as a giant capitalist conspiracy.

As to Cameron's speech, I agree with him about some of the problems outlined, but I think his proposed solution is totally misguided. We need to be in the EU for trade, and if we leave the EU we will still have to play by single market rules, but with no influence over how those rules are made. We need to work for major reform of the EU from within.

[pampango]

7. It is noteworthy how the far left and far right sometimes support the same policy...

though for totally different reasons. Of course, the real political power in the UK behind the movement to leave the EU is not from the left but from the right.

I think your view that the UK should "work for major reform of the EU from within" is the best idea but, if the Tories retain power, it does not look likely to happen.

Sometimes I get the impression from over here that Cameron would like to "work for major reform of the EU from within" but he is afraid of the ultra-conservative wing of his own party and the UKIP; kind of like many of our republican politicians are afraid of the 'tea party' wing of their party.

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. Your last paragraph is pretty accurate

It's pretty much what the OP says - he says that, if he gets some changes in the membership rules (at least for the UK), he'd campaign to stay in the EU. He thinks he can get some concessions, and that will be enough to get a majority in a referendum to stay in.

If you want to follow British polling results, I recommend the UK Polling Report that the Bloomberg article links to - http://ukpollingreport.co.uk . The author works for one of the polling companies (YouGov), but collates all the public polls on politics that are published. He also has models that try to project national poll data on to individual seat results (regional polling is rarely done with large enough samples to allow calculations based on it, with the exception of Scotland).

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. It is typical for the Tories, but I don't think it's to deflect attention

It's been a perennial concern for a lot of Tories - some of them just dislike Europe, and that's all there is to it. It played a part on the downfall of Thatcher (she was so anti-Europe, Geoffrey Howe resigned from the government, criticised her heavily for it in parliament, and this persuaded Heseltine to challenge her for the Tory leadership), in Major's permanent fight against some in his own government, and was a feature of Hague's pathetic 2001 election (in which he tried to make people fear Balair was about to take the pound into the Euro). They've been like this for at least 25 years.

UKIP, who exist as a party to get the UK our of the EU, have grown in the polls for parliamentary elections (they came second in the EU parliament elections of 2009 in Britain), and the Tories are worried they'll take the anti-EU votes they currently have, letting Labour back in when the right wing vote splits. So this is more a tactical move for the 2015 election, rather than deflecting attention from anything.