Dave Major vs the World
Well it could be 1992 all over again. Dave’s attack on Tory “pessimists” this morning is worth nothing, given what has happened since. On Lawson and Portillo’s Brexit conversions, he insisted earlier:
“I think they’re wrong. There are some pro-European pessimists who say, you have to, in Europe, simply sign up to every single thing that anyone in the EU suggests. You sign every treaty, you sign everything – there is no alternative. I think they are completely wrong. The second group of pessimists say there is no prospect of reforming the EU, you simply have to leave. I think they are wrong too.”
Since then another former Chancellor, Norman Lamont, has joined in the fight and a Queen’s Speech pro-referendum amendment has emerged. No surprises to see Boris pop up either. Surely just coincidence that the Mayor of London, speaking at the very same global investment summit as the PM, offers some ankle to the Tory Eurosceptics.
Boris Johnson says PM is right to want to renegotiate UK's deal with EU, and if we don't get what we want we must be willing to walk away.—
Stephanie Flanders (@BBCStephanie) May 09, 2013
Boris says leaving EU would not be fatal for UK but "a shot in the arm" for democracy, though he's still "narrowly" in favour of staying in.—
Tim Ross (@TimRossDT) May 09, 2013
Boris Johnson says if PM cannot get better deal on EU.."We have to be prepared to go our own way."—
norman smith (@BBCNormanS) May 09, 2013
Helpful timing, as ever.
A very interesting 
“Recently Ashton, the European Union’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, took the elevator to the ground floor of her agency’s Brussels headquarters and marched into the building’s inner courtyard. A pavilion there allows smokers to stay dry even on rainy days. On this particular one, though, it wasn’t raining in Brussels for once, and a few EU employees stood smoking outside the structure. They were more than a little surprised when Ashton appeared in front of them and asked that they please step inside the pavilion, because otherwise their cigarette smoke would waft into the offices on the building’s upper floors.”
Six-figure salaries, generous expenses and first class seats on the gravy train to Brussels, no wonder there were hundreds of applicants to become Labour candidates for the European Parliament. As Guido revealed in yesterday’s Sun column, two of their London candidates are Ivana Bartoletti, who in 2007 was elected to the Italian parliament in Rome, and Andrea Biondi, an unsuccessful candidate for the Italian parliament in January. His campaign website is still in Italian and he has yet to replace the Italian socialist party logo with the Labour Party’s logo.
“As you all daily hear and read, the European project is under constant attack. In reaction to the financial crisis, the response proposed by the Member States is to reduce for the first time ever the EU budget. This historical error puts our and future generations at risks and will have long lasting effects. As regards the EU public service, it will severely affect not only the working conditions of the staff in the coming years but also, in the longer-term, the attractivity of the careers in European Institutions.
“The best outcome for Britain is our membership of a reformed European Union. But we must recognise that consent for Britain’s membership of the European Union, and all the ways that it’s changed, has become wafer-thin. And politicians have to recognise this fact rather than try and brush it under the carpet.
