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Did no one foresee the catastrophe that the euro has become? Of course they did.
On precisely those grounds, 59 Labour MPs voted against Maastricht at Second Reading, joined by a mere 22 Tories, while 66 Labour MPs voted against Maastricht at Third Reading, still joined by only 41 Tories.
Did no one foresee the catastrophe that the euro has become? Of course they did.
On precisely those grounds, 59 Labour MPs voted against Maastricht at Second Reading, joined by a mere 22 Tories, while 66 Labour MPs voted against Maastricht at Third Reading, still joined by only 41 Tories.
On both occasions, both tellers for the Noes were Labour, Jeremy Corbyn was among the Noes, and five Labour MPs were among the Ayes. Of those five, none is still in the House of Commons, and two are dead.
But the Labour MPs who opposed Maastricht were ignored in favour of the far smaller cast of comedy characters on the Tory benches.
Today, we have to endure the domination of the debate by people who not only supported Maastricht, but were in some cases Cabinet Ministers at the time.
Plus another generation of late night television clowns to make the case against the EU appear ridiculous and lacking in the intellectual ballast that in fact it possesses by the bucket load.
Whatever arrangement with the EU has been renegotiated to the satisfaction of David Cameron will be horrendous from the point of view of British workers and the users of British public services.
Cameron's bid to regain the Social Chapter opt-out that John Major secured (along with the repeal of the Working Time Directive and Agency Worker Rights) will fail, and the business community, as Cameron now openly fears, will fund the No campaign.
ReplyDeleteThe leaked notes on Cameron's meeting with European Ministers revealed his fear that business will finance the No campaign, led by Business For Britain.
Business has turned against the CBI, following the revelations in the Times that it receives £800,000 from the European Commission.
Who is it really representing?
Certainly not the 95% of British businesses that do no trade with Europe but are still forced to comply with its regulations.
This article is superb even by your very high standards.
ReplyDelete