Cameron Tries To Pull A Fast One

Open Europe's press summary today contains a report that David Cameron, on the BBC Today programme, stated that the Conservative Party are publishing a Bill to allow a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty on the same day that Ireland hold theirs.

This is no more than opportunism by Cameron as (a) he knows that Gordon Brown will veto such a Bill and (b) he, Cameron, will then be able to 'trumpet' the fact that he called for such a referendum, when and if he gets the keys to NO 10 and finds the Treaty has been ratified. He will then be able to explain to the British electorate that there is not much he can do about it - in other words, he will be able to do the Pontius Pilate 'bit'!

In any event, any referendum would only be on the Lisbon Treaty, when the actual question on any referendum paper should be 'in or out' - something Cameron has stated we won't have as he does not believe that is what the British public want!