UPDATE: Told you so! (and hooray!)
I'm not fussed if we don't have a post-Lisbon referendum.
No, I haven't gone soft on Europe. I'm as much of a sceptic as ever I was. Don't believe in withdrawal, because of the business and diplomatic benefits of free trade and co-operation on issues like the environment and human trafficking. But do believe that Europe has gone way too far down the road to statehood, is anti-democratic, bloated, and fiscally corrupt.
If any of you have visited or lived in the USA, you may be aware of the "state quarters" programme the US Mint brought in some years back. On the reverse of the quarter, each state got to print its own design. Delaware had "the first state" on it, etc. All very pretty. Much loved on the streets. I can remember going into France after the Euro first came in, and finding Euros minted in different nations with their stamp on the back of the coin. It reminded me so strongly of the state quarters. Watching Italy and France and Germany reduce themselves to that... it kind of struck you in the gut, how they had so clearly surrendered half of what made them countries; it was the Roman Empire again, but ruled by grey men in Brussels, not Caesar and Mark Anthony.
Well, the Euro came in, made Europe sclerotic, and guess what. It didn't really harm Britain, because we stayed out of it. Clearly Lisbon is unacceptable. While Europe itself rates way, way down the list of what voters care about, in order to fix what voters DO care about - the economy, foreign policy, our national defence, our deficit - our government must have control over employment regulation, finances and the rest.
So, you know what. Let France and Eire and Germany march towards statehood and ever-closer union, if they want to. As with the Euro, we can opt out, and the sky will not fall. I'm confident that David Cameron and William Hague will present our country with policy on Lisbon that repatriates and/or other otherwise exempts us from the unacceptable parts of the Treatystution. Whimpers from the left that this would require the consent of 27 other countries are nonsense. It requires nothing more than a clear electoral mandate for David, and political will. We are a gigantic net contributor to the EU, and they want Britain as a part of it as much as we want to remain. If we say we will not be a part of a common foreign policy (for example), in the final analysis, they cannot force us to, without expelling us. I believe our European allies understand that there is a fundamentally different attitude to statehood on this side of the channel. They will work with us. And we should be relaxed about allowing them to "pool sovereignty" into one giant USE under Lisbon, if dissolving themselves is what they really choose to do.
So, no need for a post-Lisbon referendum. As long as we don't accept Lisbon, who really cares?
