Progress in the wrong direction

Whilst warming up to an attack on the price of train sandwiches in his Times column this morning, Michael Gove lamented how Euro-integrationists close down debate with travel metaphors which focus on the speed of travel rather than the direction:

"Perhaps the single lamest canard to be dragged into the euro-debate was the single, transferable, travel metaphor. The integrationist ultras would use a succession of figures of speech in which travel towards a particular political destination (in their case the surrender of yet further powers without any quid pro quo), was seen as an inevitable journey from which there could be no rational deviation. So Europe was described, variously, as a bicycle (you had to carry on moving forward or you’d fall off), a motorway (did we want to be motoring ahead with the really impressive big countries in the fast lane or left behind in the slow lane?), and a train (if you didn’t get on now you’d be left behind, perpetually incapable of catching up)."

At a press conference with Bertie Ahern yesterday (who unlike Gordon Brown freely admits that the EU Reform Treaty is mostly the same as the rejected constitution and, unlike Brown, is putting it to a vote anyway) Brown said that they had discussed:

"the European Constitution and how that can move forward over the next few months".

The CCHQ press office saw this as significant enough to press release a screenshot of the online transcript. By "moving forward" Brown means what he said when with Angela Merkel yesterday:

"We will not require a referendum on this. It is something that can be worked on closely by Parliament. I think we can make progress quickly on this."

Shame on those democrats and Eurosceptics for wanting to regress quickly.

Deputy Editor

Comments

[malcolm]

Europhiles have always loved transport analogies, it saves them from having to engage in real argument. Reminds me of the last time we had a serious European problem. In the weeks before Hitler successfully invaded Norway and then the low countries our Prime Minister was fond of telling the country that 'Hitler has missed the bus'.

[Ken Stevens]

Can I presume that the Conservative Party will echo GB's view that this is "..something that can be worked on closely by Parliament." and thus work on it closely to shut the new Treaty off as far as this country is concerned?

I wait with bated breath!

[George Hinton]

Its all a vast conspiracy, and we are but cogs in the little wheel which is attached to the greater wheel within the circle of deceit and whirligig of spin.

Browns comments means that he knows damn well we should have a referendum, but will obsfuscate and deny the electorate their choice. As we all know, he is a republican and socialist, with Marxist tendencies and will find plenty of friends at that praesidium in Brussels with centrist, statist and dictatorial attitudes.

The demand for a referendum must be taken to the streets, otherwise the people of this country will find themselves living under totally alien concepts. And what is more, ACPO will love Corpus Juris, which will allow them to bang up suspects for as long as it takes. Only problem with that is, that it will be the ordinary people who will suffer that indignity, not terrorists or criminals.

[Torygirl]

"The demand for a referendum must be taken to the streets, otherwise the people of this country will find themselves living under totally alien concepts".

Absolutely. A Pro Referendum Rally is being organised atm.

http://www.proreferendumrally.co.uk/

[Lee Rotherham]

I always liked Redwood's old line, which ran something like: 'If you want to travel to Poole, then it's a good thing if you miss the fast train to Edinburgh'

[Serf]

The Europhiles never really have any answers to our criticisms. It is for this reason that they indulge in metaphor and cliche.

The "elites" of Europe know that given a chance, the electorate of some country or other will get in the way of their beloved project, so they choose to insult us and usurp our rights, rather than risk asking us what we think.

We can make hay with Gordon's refusal to consult the electorate, but we have to do so in a way that does not enable him to label us cranks, as the eurofanatics have so successfully done in the past.

[Martin Cole]

The main opposition party must move to counter the Government/BBC propaganda offensive.

My blog has but one blatant example from last Sunday on:

http://ironiestoo.blogspot.com/2007/07/lie-of-david-miliband-britains.html

[Richard Tyndall]

We Eurorealists do have a few good travel metaphores of our own regarding the EU.

The best and probably one of the most prescient I ever heard was used regarding the Euro. At the time all the Eurofanatics were arguing it was going to happen and if we didn't join we would be left behind.

I believe it was someone in the Bruges Group who came up with the counter argument that "everyone knew the Titanic was going to set sail. But that didn't mean it was a good idea to be on it."

[Adam Tugwell]

Nice thought there Richard. I just wonder though, if we follow the story, does that mean when the EuroTitanic hits an iceberg, some drown and all the others end up in America...? Who do you have down as the Band and the Captains' doppelganger?

[Traditional Tory]

Who do you have down as the Band and the Captains' doppelganger?

Well Ive got Dave down as the triangle player with Ken Clarke on the kazoo. Captain/Bandmaster will be whatever faceless foreign bureaucrat is calling the shots at the time.

I can just see the Regimental Band of the Roon/EPP Tin Soldiers proudly standing to attention trilling 'Nearer my sod to thee' as the waters gracefully close over their heads.

Glug! Glug!

[Richard Tyndall]

To be fair I am one of those who, whatever I might think about the Euro, hope that the predictions of disaster are wrong. It really will get nasty for a lot of normal people in the EU if and when it all goes down.

I fear though that we will indeed see what has been long predicted which is a breakup of the Euro zone due to the insurmountable internal stresses.

On that day we should all make a point of reminding Clarke, Heseltine, Howe, Patten and Hurd that they thought we should join the sinking ship.

[Paul Oakley]

Does anyone know where the Referendum Rally is actually taking place? I take it that the vicinity of Parliament would be subject to the new anti-dissent laws. The various EU offices may of course fall outside the secure cordon and would be more appropriate.

As for travel metaphors, the only one we need is the escape route.

[anon]

You missed the point the main point is that he said "constitution" so ruining his not constitutional so no referendum argument.

[Traditional Tory]

Does anyone know where the Referendum Rally is actually taking place?

I've heard it ha been cancelled, but maybe that's 'disinformation'

[Traditional Tory]

It's all gone very quiet. Hope the editors haven't let that bum steer get on top of them.

Anyway, let's throw out some ideas for the 'right' direction.

The Party needs a few simple causes around which it can rally; causes which unite us instead of dividing us. So-called principles which are identical to those of the left will inevitably split the party, and the only reason that hasn't bcome more immediately apparent is because of the totally artificial advantage we enjoyed in the polls while Labour were effectively leaderless.

Here are two big 'causes' just waiting for us to run with.

1) Fight the concreting-over of the south-east and place the blame where it belongs - with immigration. No need to get bogged down with alleged racism. Most of today's immigrants are white.

2) All-out war against the tyrannical EU, culminating with a movement towards pulling out of today's Evil Empire. I can see some fantastic FCS 'Star Wars' style posters on that theme.

Do you get the drift? For a political movement to be dynamic it needs enemies and we've got them in spades. Set them up, fight them, demonise them, destroy them, but never give them a moment's quarter.

I metioned FCS. FCS was a fantastic band of brothers unified by an apparent shared ideology. In fact there were several overlapping and often conflicting ideologies but that's not how it appeared. That's another political lesson. The myth is stronger than the reality.

Under Cameron we have been mincing around with a bunch of insipid PC mantras which are the preserve of our enemies. Let's stick them in the trashcan where they belong.

We need heroes. As Carlyle tells us 'The history of the world is but the biography of great men'. Our heroes should be the strongmen of party history. Disraeli, Curzon, Carson, Birkenhead, Churchill, Thatcher, Tebbit...

There are many more. It's time to get tough, and we can take inspiration from the granite-hard greats of party history.

Those of us who are up to it

As Birkenhead himself said 'The world continues to offer glittering prizes to those who have stout hearts and sharp swords.'

[Tapestry]

The USER agent in the UK Rupert Murdoch is shocked by David Cameron's strong resistance to the Constitution, which was not in the script when he gave cameron his full backing against the ruosceptic Liam Fox during the leadership elections.

Murdoch is now seeking Cameron's removal and his replacement with the more euro-congenial William Hague, Murdoch's fellow Bildeberger. (See Stephan Shakespeare)

Brown is feeling vulnerable on the Constitution and he can only get away with this by unseating Cameron. Cameron will need 100% support against the coming attempted coup with Hgaue the main challenger.

Union of Servile European Regions - USER.

[Traditional Tory]

Cameron will need 100% support against the coming attempted coup with Hgaue the main challenger

Some of this reads like conspiracy theory, Tapestry, but if you're correct why has Cameron spent so much time alienating the right of the party which is almost 100% Eurosceptic?

I don't think I could ever accept Cameron after the things he has done and said, but I always liked Hague. I know he's been sucking up to Cameron lately, but we should never forget that it was Hague who made the party officially Eurosceptic and who came down like a ton of bricks on Federast and Fenian MPs

[Torygirl]

Does anyone know where the Referendum Rally is actually taking place?

It has been postphoned until 2008, but it is still very much ongoing.

Dear Local Campaigner

Thank you very much for volunteering to support the Pro Referendum Rally
at a local level. The work that you will be carrying out with your fellow
local campaigners could not be more important at this tipping point in
British history.

I will be sending you a list of fellow campaigners in your area as soon as
the total number of local campaigners across the UK has reached 5,000.
This of course does not mean that you should not take up any local
initiative now that you consider appropriate. Every effort adds to the
whole.

One thing you can easily do (if you have not done so already) is to send
your own personalised email to all your contacts urging them to step up to
the mark and sign up as supporters on:

http://www.proreferendumrally.co.uk

I will be back to you soon.

Thank you once again for your support of the Pro Referendum Rally.

With kind regards

Yours sincerely

Dr Jonathan Wilson
Rally Coordinator

[Torygirl]

Another important point, in the FT on the 15th, Frederick Forsyth wrote

"Pledge a referendum on Europe, Mr Cameron".

"Over 80 per cent of voters want a referendum on this unresolved quandary. If you ever want to address the EU question, never forget this. Even as prime minister you have neither the right nor the power to reform the EU. This is the chimera that John Major and Tony Blair pursued, to their total humiliation. But as British premier you have every right and power to secure a reformation of our terms of membership of the EU. Make that your goal and you will win both Downing Street and the coming Battle for Britain".

I have written to David Cameron, copy to my MP:-

"The call for a Referendum on the New EU Constitutional Treaty is growing. The Unions are calling for one, and people from all political parties and shades of opinion want one.

My question to David Cameron is,

"Will David Cameron pledge that if Brown ratifies the treaty without a referendum, he, Cameron, as his first act of government, will call a referendum to *repeal* that treaty. Will he then pass an Act to repeal it, regardless of any clause in the treaty seeking to limit this our *inalienable* sovereign right".

I haven't had an answer so far, (I wonder why) but we must press him to grant us a referendum. He is supposed to be the leader of HM Opposition, so far he has only said he wants a ref, we need to push him on this.

[Alexander Drake]

Traditional Tory, for (I think) the first time you have posted something that I actually agree with. To be an effective outfit in politics, you need (among other things) to have something to mobilise the troops *against*. To be able to point to someone or something and say, "This is what we're up against".

But I think there is a difference between causes that motivate the Party tribe and causes that motivate swinging voters and non-voters. I think voters expect a response from the Opposition on issues like the environment and health, and Cameron has (in my opinion rightly) gone into overdrive on issues - for now - to indicate he runs a party that is capable of tackling more than the usual areas people associate with the Conservative Party.

If England had a separate Parliament, with responsibility for the NHS, education, etc - then your agenda as spelt out above would suit the Conservatives better. It's a divide that the Americans call "mummy" issues (health, education, environment) and "daddy" issues (economy, national security). But because Westminster elections are for English voters responsible for both mummy and daddy issues, Cameron needs to canvass both.

Judging by Brown's response I think one standout issue for the Party to rally around, and which has potential appeal with the wider community is the demand for a referendum on the EU constitution (as opposed to the EU itself, which may well come later). Such an issue would unite 99% of the Conservatives and much of the rest of the electorate. Labour will decide for you - we want YOU to choose. Etc etc.

I applaud your initiative though Traditional Tory and your principle is spot on.

[Richard North]

It would be nice if you recognised the achievements in your own Party - progress in the right direction.

http://eureferendum.blogspot.com/2007/07/credit-where-it-is-due.html

[Daniel]

There are not 2, but 3 groups in our party.

We have the EUphiles headed by Clarke, Hurd and Heseltine (or the treasonous clique as I call them).

We have the Cameroons who have no firm policy on anything.

And we have the Thatcherites. I'm with them. The succesful policies that won 4 elections in a row have been discarded at a huge cost.

It was the treason of the EUphiles that split the party. Thatcher refused to join the ERM (she was proved right when we left the ERM within 3 years of joining it) and she opposed the coming Maastricht treaty. Traitor to this nation Heseltine (whom Churchill would have had shot) stabbed her in the back because he had promised the EC commission president to do so. Fortunately this quisling didn't inherit the throne.

And yes it would have better if we had narrowly LOST the 1992 election instead of winning it. Because then we would not now be in the state we are in now, because ratification of Maastricht would have been Kinnocks job and it would have split Labour. And we could have purged the treasonous EUphiles from the party.

Cameron out!

[Tony Barton]

I haven't posted here for some time and its good to see that opinion has now swung very firmly against Cameron and his socialist clique. The last time I posted it was probably running just in favour of the Cameroons.

So I'd like to share with you what I was recently told by a Tory MP from the NW about a neighbouring constituency where the MP is very unpopular. Basically their membership is in freefall. Guess whose?

I'll give you a clue. It starts with a "T" and ends in "n"