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Articles tagged with EU REFERENDUM
Will the Tories stop talking about the EU? Don't bet on it
by Ben Duckworth / 24 Jan 2013 15:59
It should always serve as a warning sign of complacency when we think we know the order in which things will play out. Yesterday’s speech by David Cameron made clear his plans for renegotiation followed by a 2017 In-Out referendum. While we can all argue about whether this is a fantastic move or a huge strategic mistake, it superficially looked like Europe was an issue the Prime Minister could now file under Non-Urgent. The
PMQs: Mind your e's, u's and qu's
by Anoosh Chakelian / 23 Jan 2013 11:49
AdiEU, sang the PM to the European Union this morning: music to his Brussels-bashing backbenchers' ears (read: EUphoria), but acceptable to a sceptical yet change-averse public - the negotiating of Britain's membership, and an emphasis on reform allowing him to cry 'in' on the future in-out ultimatum (read: EUphemism).
But he couldn't quite look Ed Miliband in the eye today at PMQs, as he was pressed tenaciously on whether he'd campaign to leave
Liam Fox interview: I want EU referendum timetable
by Rob Wilson / 07 Oct 2012 07:03
Liam Fox is a chuckler, a giggler, someone who likes to amuse those around him. His staff cram into his office and clearly love to be there with him, not just because he keeps them busy on all sorts of interesting projects, but because he is good fun. Fox has twinkly blue eyes and a slightly mischievous face that lights up when he smiles, which he does more frequently than your average politician.
Fight to change EU from inside
by Emma Burnell / 22 May 2012 13:35
I’m generally pro-European. Well actually, I’m generally 'please stop talking about Europe now'. It’s not an abiding passion – I used to find my mind slid off the topic like butter off parsnips – but in general, I guess I am in favour if not in fervour. From my non-scientific method of never recalling a conversation being started with me on the topic outside of SW1, I suspect that’s how most people feel –
People’s Pledge expands campaign to Cheadle, Hazel Grove and Manchester Withington
by Chris Bruni-Lowe / 18 May 2012 11:39
It’s an exciting day for the People’s Pledge today. Following on from the successful result in Thurrock this past April, we are announcing our next set of local EU referendum votes, all of which will be held on the same day and spanning three conjoining constituencies – an escalation which will see the polling of roughly 130,000 voters. The seats that have been selected are Cheadle, Hazel Grove and Manchester Withington, all
Charlotte Henry's 2012 predictions
by Charlotte Henry / 30 Dec 2011 11:09
Christmas and New Year tend to bring about countless retrospectives – top 10 political moments of the year, and so on and so forth. (I suggest you read Sadie Smiths’s analysis of PMQs not the others in any case) Instead of looking back at the, admittedly jam-packed, past year, I make, in no particular order, 12 political predictions for 2012:
1. David Miliband will return to the Labour frontbench, after being
Will the Tory boost in the polls last?
by Tom Mludzinski / 19 Dec 2011 12:36
Polls frequently show that Europe is not the biggest deal to voters but this week that theory was placed under a magnifying glass. In the immediate aftermath of David Cameron’s ‘veto’ of an EU deal, support for the Conservatives rose seven points in Ipsos MORI’s December Political Monitor for Reuters while satisfaction with David Cameron also rose significantly. So does Europe matter to the punters? Is it a vote winner? Or is this just
A Burkean vindication of the rights of MPs to disagree
by Nik Darlington / 27 Oct 2011 15:13
How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it? The debate on an EU referendum on Monday has caused no small measure of anger on all sides, within and without the Conservative Party and the country. The government was wrong to impose a whip, so stirring the backbench debate to greater gravity than perhaps it deserved. That caused some anger. The European Union itself prompts anger in varying measure.
PMQs: the EU debate becomes a mug's game
by Amber Elliott / 26 Oct 2011 13:25
This week, a long lense picked up on the fact that David Cameron appears to be going grey.
The newspaper that ran the photos suggested the prime minister was "likely to be feeling the stresses of government" after fraught negotiations on the EU referendum.
No time for Just for Men when you are trying to cover up your party's bald spot on Europe, perhaps?
Ed Miliband decided to capitalise on
MPs, It's time 'EU' listen to the people
by Francesca Preece / 26 Oct 2011 09:45
If Monday proved anything, it was that only 111 MPs represent the wishes of Britain’s citizens. These 111 stood up not just for their voters, adversaries and constituencies but also for democracy. What a disgrace then that 483 scuttled shamefully into the Commons to represent the view of their party leaders, and not the country.
Monday marked the date where the majority of our MPs proved once and for all that they aren’t
Why the EU referendum motion will die
by Martin Shapland / 21 Oct 2011 10:42
We’re about to witness the biggest coalition screw up since, well, last week. With an economic crisis on the continent, stagnating economy at home and 50 bigger issues on the agenda, the government was hoping to keep a firm lid on Major's Maastricht ghost.
Currently as many as 100 Conservatives and 10 Lib Dems could rebel against a government three line whip, with a number of threatened resignations from junior ministers and parliamentary
What the EU vote could do to Cameron (and UKIP)
by Francesca Preece / 21 Oct 2011 10:18
‘Closet racists’, ‘gadflies’, ‘fruitcakes’, and on the ‘periphery of politics’… few politicians have had time for Nigel Farage’s UK Independence Party since it burst on to the political scene some 18years ago.
Michael Howard damned it, John Major dismissed it and now David Cameron has ignored it.
But to write the eurosceptics off will be a mistake that will cost the unpopular leader support of the rank and file.
After a
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