David Cameron is wisely using his first 100 days to tackle the biggest challenge of this parliament head on: the EU referendum. This morning’s papers report that a new referendum bill will be a core part of next week’s Queen’s Speech and Cameron is keen to accelerate the vote to 2016. The logic behind this is sound: by seizing on his fresh democratic mandate, Cameron can hope to convince Brussels he is serious about achieving substantive reforms and his Cabinet now includes those who would definitely consider voting Out (Philip Hammond, Boris Johnson, Sajid Javid). If they decline to play ball, then it’s goodbye to Blighty.
This strategy all hinges on whether Brussels will listen. The Open Europe think tank isn’t so sure the Prime Minister’s timetable will work, especially not if he speeds it up.
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