It is time these Tories did the necessary on Cameron.
Today has seen Minister and former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith launch an attack on the remain campaign and I have to admit that it is a piece that has really annoyed me. Writing in the Daily Mail he urges them to stop being so negative and wishes for an atmosphere in which both sides “…maturely interrogate the issues, rather than indulge in scaremongering.” Fine sentiment indeed but one that does not deal with the reality of the situation, for the remains are never going to conduct themselves in such a gentlemanly fashion. They simply do not have anything positive to offer. How do you sell our EU future as spelt out in “A Fundamental Law of the European Union”? How do you convince a generally sceptical British public that it is the Eurozone or second class associate membership for them if they vote remain? You can’t, its a losing proposition so all they can do is throw around a lot of fear, uncertainty and doubt to try and scare us to stay in.
Iain Duncan Smith then goes on and uses part of his article to name the culprits and he points the finger at;
“…big businesses, big banks, and powerful politicians from other EU member states.”
Fair enough, we have seen the above weigh in on the remain side and will certainly have to endure more of the same in the coming weeks but if we are honest we expected this, didn’t we? It is not Duncan Smith’s pointing out the bleeding obvious re: remain tactics or his naming of the main villains of his piece that has irked me but the name he left out in his denunciation of negative campaigners, the one he clearly feels unable to accuse — David Cameron. Indeed Duncan Smith praises the Prime Minister for his “…January 2013…excellent speech, setting out his vision for a reformed European Union. He made a powerful case for ‘fundamental, far-reaching change” and “…I know that the Prime Minister entered the negotiations with good intent.” Yet it is clear that it is David Cameron as de facto head of the remain campaign who is the main instigator of negative campaigning.
Cameron’s scaremongering in last weeks Sunday Telegraph was analysed by myself here and his nonsense surrounding the French and the Le Touquet Treaty has been roundly denounced as such by all and sundry including known europhiles, here. But it is the Prime Minister’s claims that his ‘deal’ means a ‘reformed EU’ and that it is ‘legally binding and irreversible’ that sets him out as lead fabricator. The clear case that it is not such has been exposed for example, here, here, here and here, yet from leading Tory leave campaigners we have heard very little on the falsehoods uttered by the Prime Minister. Michael Gove went as far as stating that the deal was not legally binding but could not take the next logical step and claim the PM was wrong, he even claimed Cameron had not been misleading anyone! And here is the crux of the matter for the public will be voting primarily on whether they believe Cameron has secured a great reform of the EU and a lasting, binding deal for Britain. Polls show that if people believe this to be the case then the majority will vote for remain. It is therefore imperative that leave campaigners show this not to be the case and expose Cameron’s assertions as false, particularly if the critics are politically close to the PM as this has the potential to be most damaging. The reticence of the likes of Gove and Duncan Smith to do so have let Cameron off the hook on this most vital of issues, however today they have been given a second chance to expose his deal for what it is and from two unlikely sources, both europhile voices.
Andrew Duff writing for the Policy Network concedes that the deal cannot be binding on the EU as it was not involved in the negotiations. EUReferendum blog eloquently puts this point across;
“In other words — and there is no other construction that can be put on Duff’s interpretation, while the Decision may be binding on the current signatories (but less so on future office holders), for its execution it requires action by EU institutions, and they are not bound by the Decision.”
And in EurActiv.com writers from the Project for Democratic Union, a pro-EU think tank demolish the idea that the PM has ‘reformed’ the EU. They describe it as a ‘rebranding exercise’ and that “ The concessions that Cameron claims to have won are entirely cosmetic, if that.” To add insult to injury the deal is called a “charade” and most damagingly, “It means that many who hold nothing but contempt for his rebranding exercise must now grit their teeth and pretend that he has done a substantial job…”
Now is the time for these leading Tory leavers to truly step up to the plate and armed with evidence from the other side call out David Cameron’s ‘binding’, ‘reformed EU’ deal for what it is, a falsehood. If they do so it could have a dramatic impact on the public’s perception of the PM and the whole debate, hell it may even swing it in leaves favour, lord knows the polls suggest so. However there is a snag. Mr Duncan Smith and his ilk are going to have to put party loyalty to one side and think solely of country first, something they have clearly struggled and failed with so far. Well, now is the time for them to do what must be done and say it how it is; the Prime Minister is a liar and his deal is a fraud. It is high time these Tories did the necessary on Cameron.
