Spectator Unimpressed by Cameron

The Spectator – or, at least, Fraser Nelson – is severely unimpressed with Cameron’s new policy on Europe, and for good reason. He correctly pinpoints the holes…

Cameron has promised a ‘never again’ guarantee that Britain will — like Ireland — have a referendum on any other major shift of powers to the EU, such as the adoption of a single currency. But the whole point of Lisbon is that it is a self-amending treaty: it will allow the EU to take on more powers without such referenda. There is, alas, no need for a ‘referendum lock’,..[..] Mr Cameron’s proposed Sovereignty Bill — declaring the primacy of English law over the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg — will also be meaningless unless it includes the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. At present, the Tories’ proposed Bill of Rights is a disingenuous decoy because it would be explicitly junior to Strasbourg (which yesterday ordered Italian schoolchildren not to wear crucifixes in class). If the Tories were serious about repatriating justice, they would declare the Bill of Rights the law of the land. You don’t need a constitutional court to do this. You simply need to declare that, by dint of the sovereignty of Westminster, the Bill of Rights is the ranking legal jurisdiction in the land. Had Cameron said so today, then I would know he was serious. I still hope.

Absolutely Fraser. UKIP support will be bolstered by Cameron’s announcement. The pledges are weak at best and cosmetic at worst. Flim-flam, in the words of Boris!

The detailed document accompanying Cameron’s speech which sets out precisely what these measures mean firmly states this is the “settled policy” for the next Parliament. This is Cameron’s stake in the ground. He wants to kick Europe into the grass so that it does not hang over his Premiership (hoped for Premiership!).

I’m afraid that if David Cameron was genuine about securing a new relationship with our European neighbours he would have been more bold. Far more bold. He would have set out the precise nature of his ‘ideal’ relationship, and he would have stated he would put his package to a referendum of the British people, with the ultimate threat of leaving the EU if the demands of the British people were not respected and met.

I understand the desire of many Tory Eurosceptics to see a Conservative government at all costs, in order to set to work on tax, education, civil liberties, etc, i really do, but here is the problem. Either our EU relationship is seen as a key matter, and a stance is taken out of principle, and must be a priority, or Europe is simply low down the priority list and the stance is taken as a pragmatic step to relieve the pressure in the cooker.

From my perspective Cameron’s policy is the latter – he is more interested in tax and education that he is about our relationship with the EU, and thus by consequence our trade policy, regulation of the city of London, international development, employment legislation, and so on. He has demonstrably dropped Europe down the agenda.

To all those who believe Europe to be a serious issue which needs addressing now, then your choice is UKIP, however much you desire to see a Conservative government. Ultimately what point a Tory government when the EU has competence in so many areas?