By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. A group of thirty Conservative MPs have signed a letter to the Daily Telegraph today. The letter sets out the following case: "European Union proposals pose a grave threat to Britain’s financial services industry, which employs nearly two million people, accounts for 10 per cent of GDP, and generates […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter I tried yesterday morning not to get lost in the forest of EU pre-summit news – David Cameron's Times article, his avoidance of mention of repatriation of powers, Ken Clarke's dismissal of any attempt to regain them – but rather to stand back from the scene, and try to […]
Do you agree? And what about these statements…? This summit provides Britain with the best opportunity in a generation to forge a new relationship with the EU. Britain should not be part of any summit deal that saves the €uro. We should be arguing that the €uro needs to be broken up in an orderly […]
Tomorrow we will conduct a special poll on the EU. We will use it to put together a wish list for the Prime Minister to take to the looming EU summit. We'll publish the results in an open letter to David Cameron on Friday. Please use the thread below to suggest the right questions to […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter And now, after Owen Paterson's Spectator interview this morning (the full version of which will be published tomorrow) and nine EU-related Tory questions to Cameron at PMQs, we have Boris. The Mayor of London is reported to have said: "If there is a new treaty at 27, if there […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter PMQs kicked off as the story of Owen Paterson's Spectator interview was gathering momentum. Paterson has come out for a referendum in the event of fiscal union. He has told the Spectator that "if there was a major fundamental change in our relationship, emerging from the creation of a […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter A man who has worked closely with David Cameron at the highest levels of the Conservative Party has told a private meeting: "We've got all sorts of dark arts". Readers will grasp at once that I am not referring to Tim Collins, the former Shadow Cabinet Minister, who is […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter David Cameron has an article in tomorrow's Times that expands on the TV interview he has given this evening. The basic message is that he'll seek safeguards for Britain from any move towards greater fiscal integration but he doesn't mention repatriation. The full article is here (£) but there are […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter The brilliant Dr Lee Rotherham has produced a paper for The TaxPayers' Alliance on a repatriation strategy which David Cameron could pursue at the looming Treaty talks. Page 8 of the full document (PDF) is particularly relevant – Lee provides a list of ten occasions when member states have played […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter I recently blogged that David Cameron's relations with the centre right press are very poor for this stage of the Parliament. They might be about to get worse… "Downing Street said yesterday that a referendum is unnecessary. It is, at the very least, an odd negotiating strategy for Mr Cameron […]
Friday 8.45am John Redwood MP blogs: "Orderly but rapid break up would be the least cost option. It would liberate the countries allowed out, and permit them to adjust their competitiveness by a devaluation which would be swift and easier to sell than large wage cuts. There is no foundation to the proposition that the […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter "Earlier this morning, Number 10 briefed that fiscal union in the eurozone would not trigger a referendum in this country because sovereignty will not be transfered from London to Brussels." So reported Coffee House. Number 10 is legally correct – the referendum lock only covers a transfer of sovereignty. But […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter That is, I predict, the argument that Cameron and Osborne will deploy against Eurosceptic Tory MPs if they campaign to give the British people a vote on an EU Treaty that facilitates a roadmap to fiscal union. But, first, let us take a few steps back. The European Union may […]