Referendum Progress

Iain Dale has reported this morning that Mr. David Cameron in his Tooting speech added some unscripted lines at the end to the effect that he was giving a commitment to a referendum on any new EU treaty which gives Brussels further powers.

It is as yet not clear precisely what he is saying but if, as seems to be the case, this means that any sort of cession of power will trigger a future referendum, then this is greatly to be welcomed.

In addition it will do something to assuage the rumblings of dissent that have been rising since the desperately poorly handled Grammar Schools issue temporarily prostrated the party, though Mr. Cameron would do well to remember that policy on Europe does not stop here.

Meanwhile the Quislings continue to plot the demise of the United Kingdom. We have heard all this talk of 'red lines' and 'opt-outs' before. Red lines end up being fudged or abandoned; 'opt outs' end up being over-ruled or outflanked by the ECJ.

Why not just say to the EuroNabobery, for a change, "No." or "Thus far and no further, so don't even mention these things again and waste our time"?

The trouble with these Euro huddles is that when the EuroFederalists eventually isolate the UK from the rest, like a pack of hyenas, they end up forlornly trying to defend their position like a lion tries to defend its kill. So the hyenas circle and circle about nipping in every now and then to seize some tasty chunk until the poor lion has nothing left. Saying "No" at the outset would avoid this sort of humiliation.

Keith Vaz, on the Daily Politics, opines that you should only have referendums when you "really" need them: i.e. when you think you will win them. Quite.