Calls for EU referendum in UK 'a distraction'
PublicServiceEurope.com carried an article entitled "Brits will not rest until they get EU referendum", on July 4. The piece was penned by Jon Gaunt of the EU Referendum Campaign. It is debatable whether many Brits are moved at all by the issue, but on one point Gaunt is clear – he wants an in-or-out of the EU referendum and he wants Britain out of the EU. Some others from The People's Pledge are not so clear about the end goal, wanting a referendum in order to "set the record straight" on UK-EU relations.
The case made by Gaunt is disingenuous and wrong, while claims that a referendum will somehow set the record straight are equally misguided. First of all, the British obsession with more or less Europe or the more extreme in-or-out of the EU means there is little focus in Britain about how the union can be shaped in the UK's interests, or in the interest of citizens. At any other level of politics – local, regional, national, and even international through the United Nations or North Atlantic Treaty Organisation – we do not argue about the existence of these political systems. But if we do not like the way they behave - we seek to shape them, to change them. When it comes to the EU, we want to throw our toys out of the pram and say we are not playing. It is time debate shifted to the creation of a more left-wing or right-wing EU, a more liberal or a greener Europe and away from the tiresome in-or-out fight.
Second, those calling for the UK to leave the EU make a frightfully simple case – leave Europe behind and all will be fine. Regain democracy, control sovereignty and money - delete as applicable - and attach no costs to the decision. The truth is very different, and is an issue I have been examining on my blog. Would the UK choose an option like Norway, Switzerland or the USA in its relations with the EU - with all the economic or democratic downsides each brings? Gaunt's piece points the finger at the EU because of Greece and the eurozone, while ignoring the single market, vital to British business – that is the crucial issue for Britain's ongoing membership.
Lastly, will a referendum actually set the record straight? Frankly, I doubt it. It was just a couple of years after the 1975 EU referendum before Europe divided the Labour Party. Would it be any different this time? EU matters are important; a referendum will not and should not stop them surfacing. Furthermore, anyone advocating a referendum on anything in the UK should learn the cautionary tale of the Alternative Vote referendum, fought this spring.
Regardless of an individual's point of view on election systems, the debate prior to the referendum was characterised by scaremongering and a scant lack of attention to the issues at stake. Are we really ready to go down that route once more? In short, calls for a referendum are a distraction from sensible engagement with the EU. And the less attention paid to Gaunt and his simplistic and populist positions, the better.
Jon Worth is a European politics blogger
What is the group noun for Straw men? A Dolly? What ever it is Jon Worth has paraded quite a collection of those harvest mementoes in his rejection of the idea of a in/out referendum as a distraction. First, he claims that interest in Britain for such a vote is doubtful. I would wager that he is wrong.
To claim there is little focus on "shaping the EU in Britain's interests". If he thought about it, he would have to admit that that is precisely what the last few governments have been trying to do. For decades, to no avail. He claims: "At any other level of politics – local, regional, national, and even international through the United Nations or North Atlantic Treaty Organisation – we do not argue about the existence of these political systems." Which is false.
At a local level, we have referenda to determine whether there should be elected executive mayors. (as was recently the case in Leicester) or the various referenda at a regional level (such as greater powers to the Welsh Assembly), or how we elect our MP's (the AV referenda). All these examples are from this May.
At the very least, if the government was serious about changing the way the EU works, in the way that Jon suggests - he must admit that having a referendum in your back pocket would concentrate the minds of the Prime Minister's EU colleagues. After all, they never blink when they play hard ball at EU Summits so why should we?
Next, the claim that us Eurorealists are simplistic is risible. I know nobody in the movement, who thinks that leaving the EU would be easy. We do not believe that our problems would be solved by withdrawal, but we do believe that it would be morally and democratically correct to be the masters of our own course.
The economic crisis is a case in point, but is illustrative of a far bigger whole rather than the entire argument. Greece, Italy, the bailouts are today's problems - but the underlying issues of the collapse of democratic accountability brought about through our membership of the EU and are perennial.
A referendum would clear the air around this issue. It would not settle it once and for all as times change, but for a generation. For him to claim that any referendum would not be worth having because of the standard of debate, he should take a look across the channel and see how the referenda were carried out on the European constitution in France and the Netherlands.
Both were remarkable for the sanity of their debates, and for the information provided by both sides to each and every elector. Of course, Jon disapproves of populism as his position is not popular. Of course - he doesn't want there to be a referendum, as a former president of the European Young Federalists he would be afeared of the result.
Gawain Towler - London, UKIP
Oh my. Whoever wrote this article is sadly very much out of touch with the views of the British public. We need a referendum on Britain leaving the EU as soon as possible and when it does come, it will go exactly the same way the AV referendum did. The right answer prevailed, as we all knew it would.
When will the politicians of today realise that we are no longer interested in the Con-Lab-Dem battle for leadership and your pathetic arguing over past governments. As the days and months go by more and more people will look towards voting for the BNP as there manifesto is far more in line with what today's British people want.
The BNP are a breath of fresh air, they listen to us and they want the same things as us, I too, will not stop campaigning until we get the referendum that we deserve.
Simon Dalby - Blandford Forum Dorset
'Would the UK choose an option like Norway, Switzerland or the USA in its relations with the EU - with all the economic or democratic downsides each brings?' Sorry mate, but what economic and democratic downsides?
Last time I checked, Norway had the second highest per capita GDP in the world, and Switzerland and the US had democratic systems that make the UK look like what it is - a oligarchy where the political classes are completely removed from a populus, which despises them.
Yes - perhaps an EU referendum would be 'characterised by scaremongering and a scant lack of attention to the issues at stake.' But it isn't me inventing facts to suit a discredited argument. Fundamentally, you don't want a referendum because you're scared of the result. Full stop, end of story. Don't try and spin it any other way.
Dan - Manchester, UK
"Whoever wrote this article is sadly very much out of touch with the views of the British public." Terribly so, 75 per cent of the British public now want to leave the EU. Really how much longer can the EU pretend that they don't know that Britain simply does not want Europe.
I suspect the author knows this, but is deliberately writing what Europhiles want to read Surely, it would be better for the EU to tell David Cameron to give the British people a referendum and for Britain to leave if it wants - as this issue is not going to go away.
Paul Alsop - London, UK
Please let us have a referendum.
jacqueline ward - eastleigh uk
Yes, I feel we should be out of the EU. They interfere too much with our laws and demand money to help other countries which would be better off helping our country in this climate.
Mary Dow - Kirkcudbright, Scotland
David Cameron easily blocked a call for a referendum on Britain's EU membership but suffered the biggest backbench revolt of his premiership
