Whilst the debate over the new European treaty elements is still going on behind closed doors, the media has given it little coverage due to the pending Blair/Brown hand over. David Aaronovitch’s piece in the Times today then, comes as a good little resume of the situation we find ourselves in. Not to highbrow, and certainly never lowbrow, I like his summary of the two opposing camps. On one hand we have the government, who need to convince us that the changes don’t warrant a referendum they know they will loose, but also need to let us know that they negotiated their way out of a fate worse than invasion. The anti’s however, need to convince us that there should be a vote that they know they will win, but are not to sure if they have enough material to go on.
He also does a pretty succinct critique of the lack of tradition on referendums in this country, his reference to the public voting more for Big Brother type programmes cruel, embossing but very true.
I can’t agree with his conclusion that this Treaty does not warrant a vote. We have reached the point of no return with regards to Europe, if it doesn’t happen now we might as well hand the country over immediately and be done with it. The problem is however, that the Phobes and the Phibes are in a minority. Once upon a time these treaty amendments would have ripped the Tory and Labour party apart; your lucky if the “rebels” now get page four coverage in the tabloids. The only hope lies with the British public, who don’t like being told what to do, particularly by other foreign countries.
Will they ever get their chance? Probably not, unless of course we can have the issue raised on Richard and Judy or the treaty elements up for eviction on Big Brother. At least then the votes might flood in.
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