Labour and the Lib Dems stake out their positions ahead of David Cameron’s Europe speech
By Peter Hoskin
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Today’s
the day for pre-emptive strikes. Ed Miliband, Douglas Alexander, Nick Clegg and
Vince Cable are all spread across the airwaves, attacking David Cameron’s
Europe speech in advance of its delivery tomorrow. And so their main points of
difference with the PM have become clearer, but also — more neglected — their
similarities. Here’s a quick run-down of both:
i) All three party leaderships agree with the “referendum lock”. As you’ll know, the Coalition Agreement contains a policy whereby “any proposed future [European Union] treaty that transferred areas of power, or competences, would be subject to a referendum on that treaty.” This is something that Labour has previously spoken out against, describing it — among many other epithets — as a “political gesture”. But, as the New Statesman’s George Eaton points out, Ed Miliband now appears to have changed his mind. Speaking on the Today programme earlier, the Labour leader admitted that he would not repeal the legislation.
In that respect, there’s some parallel between the current EU debate and that around the deficit. All of the parties agree with deficit reduction in general, but disagree about scope and means. The question, in both the European and fiscal contexts, is whether the public see Labour’s position as appealingly moderate, or wishy-washy.
iii) Only one party is likely to promise an in/out referendum for now. Putting aside the possibility of a referendum brought about the “lock mechanism”, it looks as though only one party is currently set to promise the public an in/out choice in the next Parliament — and that, of course, is the Tories. Today, Ed Miliband is pushing the business argument against such a referendum: that even the prospect of an ‘Out’ vote is equivalent to “a closed-for-business sign hanging around Britain”. Whilst Vince Cable is paying more attention to the diplomatic implications: “There are many in Europe, notably in France, who would be happy to see the back of the UK,” he is set to warn, “and even the UK’s allies on market reform, notably Germany, have limited political capital to spend getting a more favourable arrangement for the UK.”
This leaves David Cameron in a rather strange position. The scrap that he faces with his official political opponents is over the smaller order question of whether there should be a referendum. Whereas the fight he may get into with the Conservative Party is over something bigger: whether the UK should leave the EU or not.
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