David Cameron may be an odious politician and the
Labour leadership election suggests he is certainly a lucky one, but his EU referendum
game may turn out well for him. Whether he saw this from the start I don’t
know, but maybe he did. In which case well played David, you lying slimeball.
An in/out EU referendum might have been good for
eurosceptics if UKIP had made a better showing at the general election. Even
then it would have been risky because the EU has many advantages, not least the
triple advantages of inertia, fear of the unknown and pots of money. As things stand now, a
referendum isn’t so good for eurosceptics because there is too much to lose and
losing is the most likely outcome.
Cameron knows this. Although there are risks in holding an in/out referendum, the gains make it worthwhile. A vote to stay in the EU may not get
the issue off his back, but it will permanently weaken it and change the nature of the narrative. It will be marginalised politically and that must be his intention. It paves the way for his next career move too. I'm sure that is also his intention.
Allowing his ministers to campaign as they choose could be another smart move. There is little charisma available among ministers to damage the pro-EU
narrative and allowing this amount of freedom claws back some democratic
credentials. Not only that, but it may lob more leadership issues into the eurosceptic camp. If the vote goes Cameron's way then his victory becomes that much more personal and legitimate, the eurosceptic case that much less legitimate.
What persuaded Cameron to take the referendum risk in the
first place? I don’t know but he could have been advised by Tony Blair - the game
feels Machiavellian enough. Or he may simply be lucky. In responding to
pressures he made it up as he went along and stumbled on a game worth playing. It still feels worthy of Machiavelli
to me though.
4 comments:
It is about getting power and retaining it at any cost. We will not know whether Cameron has been right about tactics until the referendum is over, if in fact it ever happens.
I don't know why you think that the referendum outlook is not very good just now for those who wish to leave. I would say that the odds are slightly better just now. We who wish to leave the EU may not win the Referendum but it will be only because there are so many of the voters who simply don't understand the real issues. I would guess that they are mainly the younger voters who have grown up with the EU and have no different experience.
Whether he saw this from the start I don’t know, but maybe he did. In which case well played David, you lying slimeball.
People often dismiss the ones who do see - the pollies' masters, the ones their in thrall to. They have the weight of history on their side.
Demetrius - the risk probably looks worthwhile now, but I often wonder if Cameron will reduce it by engineering some kind of get-out for himself.
Henry - I'm hoping for a resounding vote to leave the EU and events could still steer things that way, but the EU spends huge sums on propaganda and voters tend to be politically timid.
James - they do.
Post a Comment