The Guardian reports that Cameron will, quite rightly, rule out a post-ratification referendum on Lisbon. He has been supported in this by Daniel Hannan who is reported as saying:
"I'm perfectly happy with [David Cameron's] policy. He's been very clear over the fact that he wants a referendum on the Libson treaty. If we are in time to stop it, wonderful. He's been working very hard to get that...if we are too late to stop it, there will need to be a wider renegotiation of our position. Frankly, I think it would be silly just to have a referendum on the Lisbon treaty at that stage."
Instead of a referendum on Lisbon, Cameron is reported as favouring a repatriation of powers, including employment laws and matters of justice and home affairs.
This is the way to go. The renegotiation would have to go further than this, but the principle of Cameron's position is spot on. If we can find a way to be clear enough about this in advance of an election, we might be able to avoid having a referendum of any sort at all. No referendum; just renegotiate.
