Nick Clegg has warned David Cameron that a promise to hold a referendum on membership of the European Union is against the national interest and risks derailing the fragile UK economy.
Translation: You proles are too thick to make the right decision, so we (superior) politicians will make it for you. And don’t you dare derail our gravy train.
I have got that about right, haven’t I?
I have got that about right, haven’t I?
Yes
Agreed!
As I understand it he puts his generous EU pension in jeopardy if he can be seen to not support the EU at every turn. So “the content of my pocket trumps your national interest every time I open my mouth”. Did we have, in olden times, politicos who supported the national interest or is that just my fading memory getting it wrong again?
You seriously expect Cameron to hold a referendum? This is about nobbling UKIP and appeasing his own right wing. If Cameron wins an outright majority in the election then you’ll hear no more about the referendum, as they’ll be no UKIP to worry about and he’ll have a big enough majority to tell the rebels to get stuffed.. If he doesn’t, there will either be another Lib/Con coalition, which means no referendum, or a Lib/Lab coalition, which means no referendum.
End result – there will be no referendum
Do you think that Cameron believes that we’ve all forgotten the “cast iron” promise of a referendum which he made before the last election? We’re all still waiting for that one to happen. Is there anyone on earth who will believe this very same promise a second time around? (Apart from dyed-in-the-wool Conservative voters who will conveniently forget that last promise simply in order to avoid the nasty prospect of having to admit that their beloved Tories are as much a bunch of liars as the other lot). As Stephen says above, the chances of this referendum actually happening are – oh, I’d say about, err, zero …
Actually you appear to be spot on. As have the previous five responses. But he’ll only get away with it if we let him. Which, on current form, we will.
Yup. I was always under the impression that the only qualification for the House of Commons was just that – being a Commoner. How deluded to believe that a successful advertising campaign in a limited catchment area gives one some sort of special insight into the workings of the world – or at least one more relevant than anyone else’s. Arrogant bastards – I mean, Nadine Dorries got into Parliament and she’s a massive tool by any metric. Is her opinion worth more than mine? She’s no more remarkable than any other nurse or business person I’ve ever met and she’s obsessed with abortion so clearly an ‘expert’ on Europe and capable of making the big decisions on our behalf! (Clearly Dorries is low hanging fruit for my derision. The worrying thing is that there are far too many similarly uncredible members of this rotten parliament…)