Cameron 'Con'

Having watched the third charade of the day, Cameron's 'statement on Europe' - the first two being PMQs and Harriet Harmans statement on Kelly - he seems to have committed the greatest sin of all, that being: when in a hole stop digging.

"Never again should it be possible for a British government to transfer power to the EU without the say of the British people. If we win the next election, we will amend the European Communities Act 1972 to prohibit, by law, the transfer of power to the EU without a referendum. And that will cover not just any future treaties like Lisbon, but any future attempt to take Britain into the euro. We will give the British people a referendum lock to which only they should hold the key - a commitment very similar to that in Ireland." 

As Lisbon is a self-amending treaty there will be no further treaties, so why promise a 'referendum lock' which will never be used - yet another worthless 'cast-iron' guarantee. The fact that the Lisbon Treaty states the currency of the European Union will be the euro - and remember we as a country have just signed that treaty - there ain't much Cameron can do about it if the EU 'decide' to 'introduce' it. As to a 'referendum lock' - if we had a referendum - we all know what happened to Ireland!

"I recognise there are some who, now that we cannot have a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, want a referendum on something else...anything else. But I just don't think it's right to concoct some new pretext for a referendum simply to have one for the sake of it.That wouldn't survive serious scrutiny." 

Whilst it is accepted that we cannot have a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty - that is now 'dead', having become law - why cannot we have a referendum on our membership of the EU, which can be summed up as 'Who Governs Britain'. That is hardly 'concocting' a pretext, surely? What does not 'survive serious scrutiny', Mr. Cameron, is your ducking that simple fact!

"A Conservative Government will address some of these problems by negotiating three specific guarantees with our European partners guarantees over powers that we believe should reside with Britain, not the EU."

Whilst acknowledging that any 're-negotiation' requires the agreement of the other 26 members, Cameron does not say what would happen if they do not agree. Stating that it would probably take the life of the next parliament to accomplish means that if not agreement is forthcoming we would, in effect, be exactly where we are now.

"What I have set out today settles our policy for the next parliament." 

A policy which can leave you, five years later, in exactly the situation that you are in today is, for sure, one hell of a policy! In other words, Cameron has 'concocted' a plan to 'shunt' the matter to one side for five years.

"If I am elected Prime Minister, the British Government I lead will be an active member of the European Union."

As the majority of the country don't wish to remain a member of the EU, under the current terms of membership, what right does Cameron have to insist that we remain a member? Does he not have an obligation to annul, laws which the British people do not want? Bugger! I forgot, Cameron's a politician and as such obligations are a word he no doubt does not understand - or believe in!

"Never again should it be possible for a British government to transfer power to the EU without the say of the British people..........It is not politicians' power to give away - it belongs to the people."

If it is right that, in the future, transfer of power should not be carried out without the say of the British people and that it was not the politicians' power to give away, then surely it is right that the transfer of powers that have already happened need the 'say of the British people'?

One also has to ask if what was said today is a 'cast-iron' guarantee or a promise - either way, does it matter in that what has been 'promised' is not worth the paper his words were written on for one simple reason. The EU would never agree to the repatriation of some powers as it would open a Pandora's Box. If they did agree to what Cameron wants, it would mean he could go back again and ask for more, leaving the EU with no option but to agree, having agreed previously. It would also mean other countries in the EU also clamouring for the return of certain powers.

The European Union will not be worried in the least about what Cameron is proposing today - the only thing that would worry them would be if he had announced an 'in' or 'out' referendum as, for certain, they know what the answer would have been.