Has David Cameron shot himself in the foot over the In/Out EU referendum or has put the other parties in an awkward position, as if the referendum debate gathers pace and they don’t include it in their next GE manifesto they will have to have cast iron reasons, or face being unelectable. The only reason IMO the last govt never had a referendum is so that the main faces could get a “nice little earner” as a commissioner or some other unelected gravy train role.
For my money I think he’s shot himself in the foot on a personal level as now if the Conservatives are voted in, he has to do it, but I also think given the general mistrust of the EU in the UK he’s put the other parties into a position of needing to argue, why they shouldn’t, over the next couple of years and when it comes to the next GE.
It may also stimulate a wider european debate on the whole raison d’etre for the EU as it has developed from a trading group almost into a dictatorship, with the main decisions coming via unelected commissions run by commissioners, with the MEPs forming a talking shop and getting paid a King’s ransom. Why the EU couldn’t operate similarly to say The Commonwealth, where disparate countries can trade quite happily, without the behemoth that is Brussels/Strasbourg gravy train.
The idea of renegotiating our membership shouldn’t be a problem, given that some countries already pick and choose which directives/rules they follow. When you look at the euro, the French and Germans defaulted on the rules within 2 years and said it doesn’t matter and the French are renowned for being lax on things, others are expected to follow.
The best solution IMO is a mutually beneficial trading organisation and do away with the MEPs, Commissioners, supposedly common rules and all the subsidies/grants paid out to countries and people who are not competitive without them. Thus accepting the experiment failed.
The only problem here is the single currency, but according to some commentators the Germans have got Deutschmarks stock-piled just in case. Personally it would have been folly for countries who adopted it not to have retained the coinage and notes of their proper currency.