Articles

EU referendum debate is a dangerous distraction

Nick Denys

20th Oct 2011

Over the last few days some politicos have been getting very excited about Monday’s EU referendum vote. There has been talk in the press of Conservative splits, rebellions and bad blood. Imagine if there was a referendum. There would be a year of this.

The proponents of a referendum claim that they want to give the people their say on the matter. From what I can gather the ‘people’ do not particularly want a say on the matter. Once every 4/5 years we decide the deciders and then get back to our lives. People want politicians to make decisions. Maybe we should have a referendum against groups calling for referendums? No-one I know who lives outside the political bubble was bothered when Blair didn’t give us a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty; nor do I know anyone who cares that Cameron didn’t follow through his ‘cast iron guarantee’.  

Let’s not forget that political parties who promoted a strong anti-EU message have never tended to do well in elections. The classic mistake of those who are passionately anti-European is to accept instant responses rather than looking deeper into people’s motivations. If you ask someone whether they want the Euro or the pound they will instantly reply £. If you ask them whether they want the pound or a bigger flat screen TV or a better pay job the majority response will be less clear.*

The workings of society are complex, that is why the public delegates decision making power to representatives. One of the reasons I am a Conservative is that I don’t want to be trapped by inflexible doctrines. This is why I can never support actions such as the Peoples Pledge.  To boil national politics down to a single, non-negotiable issue is both crude and dangerous. The unintended consequence of such simplification can be to create a ‘them’ and ‘us’ narrative where ‘they’ are traitors and ‘we’ are true believers. This has afflicted the American Right, where the ugly term RINO (Republican In Name Only) has developed. If such a thing were to happen to Conservatives then we would be finished as a serious political force.

Monday’s debate is a dangerous distraction. Let’s find a compromise which can avoid any unnecessary bitterness.**

*My personal view on EU is that as  it has such a large impact on the UK  while it exists we have to be involved, but would favour a two-speed EU. I’m also open to the idea of withdrawal. The anti-EU lot need to better explain what happens next if we leave. Lord Wolfson’s competition for the best essay on how a nation can safely leave the EMU is a good idea and I look forward to reading the winning entry.

** No10 and CCHQ need to be open minded. I can’t help but think that if the Party had of had a proper discussion about the EU at Conference then a lot of the current excitement wouldn’t exist.

10 comments — post a comment

kinglear —

The only way the Tories will get in in 2015 is if they do a deal over the EU – and this would be the perfect signal

He's Spartacus —

Nonsense, and I suspect you know it.

The only reason people don’t care is because they are hardly ever asked the question, and when they are poll results show between 60 and 80% in favour of a referendum.

The issue is never raised at elections because there is an unspoken quid pro quo between the three main Parliamentary parties, whose membership are overwhelmingly europhile corporatists, never to touch this third rail of British politics.

Bruce Finch —

Nick, whilst I agree the debate is most unwelcome as there are more important things to worry about, I think you are not correct to say that parties which have promoted a strong EU message tend not to do well in elections. The consistent strength of UKIP in Euro and local elections despite their rather eccentric choice of candidates is proof positive that it does resonate with electorate albeit that it is not the only issue. As a councillor and a regular Tory canvasser I’ve lost count of the number of times that the EU has been brought up on the doorstep. I don’t mean that it is issue number one but it is regularly raised- and I have to point out that it is well outside the powers of a District Councillor! You may not know anyone who was annoyed about Cameron not giving a referendum on Lisbon but opionion polls evidence consistently shows a negative attitude to the EU and Cameron was onto a winner with Lisbon – the polls clearly showed that Brown would lose a referendum which is why he didn’t call it. Whilst it’s a truism to state that society is complex and we do delegate powers to representatives that argument is a classic cop out which is used when someone doesn’t happen to agree with the issue being debated. I fear in this instance you are using it thus. I’m a strong Cameron supporter and like most Platform 10 supporters spent lots of time and shoe leather getting the Tories elected. God forbid we go back to the headbanging days of introverted debate about Europe. But the fact is that this issue is real, it certainly has electoral traction despite what you’ve stated and the party is Eurosceptic (one of the reasons DC won over Ken Clarke) and it is better to have a debate since there is such clear support and get it over with than store up trouble for the future.

kinglear —

OK I know it’s only in the Daily Express but 81% want their MP to vote FOR a referendum.
That is going to make it very difficult for the whips to get traction.
If Cameron had any balls he would allow a free vote

B —

I couldn’t disagree more!

I happened across this blog by chance, and I’m speaking as a member of the general public whose primary concern is supporting my children (and who views with amusement the tiny incestuous bubble of twitter accounts and blogs that politicians THINK is a big part the political “landscape” – a bubble which only they and press commentators have any interest in whatsoever).

The EU is one of the issues which has caused my father, my wife, friends and members of my family and I to become disenfranchised with politics.

There are simply massive, contentious issues that have for decades been mutually and politely off the table for votes or debate.

Things are just pursued without any attempt to seek consent from the electorate, and with the EU as with some other huge issues, our democracy has become akin to some sort of absolute-power-wielding monarchy.

Nobody’s asking us if it’s alright, because we might say No, and it’s apparently easier to ask forgiveness than permission.

(Except nobody’s asking forgiveness, because in a few years they’re gone and can forget about the consequences of their actions for the electorate.)

If the hope we’ve felt about electing the Tory party returns AGAIN to participation in the electoral cartel with the Lib Dems and the Labour party, what’s the point in voting?

There’s a chance I will have completely had it with my chosen party and British politics for good, and I am certainly not alone in that, if the people I know of every political standpoint are any guide.

So yes, I have real economic and business worries like most people. I see this as wider than the issue of the EU, though. This is clearly the litmus test of whether the political cartel has been, or will ever be, shifted by bothering to vote.

Yes, this may affect the Tories most of all, because they have picked up the disillusioned vote this time around, but ultimately who cares about the Tories? Not I. This is a test of British politics.

Go and knock on people’s doors. Most people want or are willing to participate in this referendum. Are we going to have it, OR NOT?