Dan Hannan, one of the more intelligent Tories has this to say about Cameron not merely failing but being humiliated in his attempt to get a less centralising EU President:
"The game is up. No one will now believe that the United Kingdom can deliver a substantively different deal in Europe. The FCO's ploy of doing a Harold Wilson – that is, making some piffling changes and presenting them as a significant new deal – has been discredited almost before it began.
If David Cameron couldn't prevent the appointment of Jean-Claude Juncker as President of the European Commission, no one will believe that he can deliver a more flexible EU, with more freedom of action for its member nations.
I suspect this is one of those situations where normal people get the point more easily than Westminster journalists. For those inside the bubble, it's about personalities: Juncker's supposed drink problem; Merkel's supposed treachery; Cameron's supposed humiliation. But the rest of the country will, I think, see the bigger picture. We have just discovered, in the most brutal way, how lightly we weigh in the counsels of the EU. If anything, Britain's opposition to Juncker's appointment – which was common to every political party – served to rally other governments behind him. Our influence in Brussels, in other words, is not just nugatory; it is negative.
As recently as ten days ago, I thought that a compromise would be found. Surely the other members wouldn't actively drive Britain to exit, would they? In the event, they could hardly have been clearer. First, the new Finnish prime minister hectored us, telling us to 'smell the coffee' and realise how dependent we were on the EU, whatever form it took. Then Angela Merkel, coming out of the meeting, gave a press conference in which she said that ever-closer union must apply to all 28 member states"
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I cannot disagree with a word. I wish I thought Cameron was sincere about renegotiation or that the Lab/Cons were sincere in their "support" of his attempt to stop Junker getting the top job. In which case all 3 would support our right to a referendum - now.
"The game is up. No one will now believe that the United Kingdom can deliver a substantively different deal in Europe. The FCO's ploy of doing a Harold Wilson – that is, making some piffling changes and presenting them as a significant new deal – has been discredited almost before it began.
If David Cameron couldn't prevent the appointment of Jean-Claude Juncker as President of the European Commission, no one will believe that he can deliver a more flexible EU, with more freedom of action for its member nations.
I suspect this is one of those situations where normal people get the point more easily than Westminster journalists. For those inside the bubble, it's about personalities: Juncker's supposed drink problem; Merkel's supposed treachery; Cameron's supposed humiliation. But the rest of the country will, I think, see the bigger picture. We have just discovered, in the most brutal way, how lightly we weigh in the counsels of the EU. If anything, Britain's opposition to Juncker's appointment – which was common to every political party – served to rally other governments behind him. Our influence in Brussels, in other words, is not just nugatory; it is negative.
As recently as ten days ago, I thought that a compromise would be found. Surely the other members wouldn't actively drive Britain to exit, would they? In the event, they could hardly have been clearer. First, the new Finnish prime minister hectored us, telling us to 'smell the coffee' and realise how dependent we were on the EU, whatever form it took. Then Angela Merkel, coming out of the meeting, gave a press conference in which she said that ever-closer union must apply to all 28 member states"
==========================
I cannot disagree with a word. I wish I thought Cameron was sincere about renegotiation or that the Lab/Cons were sincere in their "support" of his attempt to stop Junker getting the top job. In which case all 3 would support our right to a referendum - now.
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