Sebastian Payne

The Europhiles need to act soon — or lose momentum to the sceptics

Who will speak up for Britain’s relationship with Europe? Even those abroad have noticed that the recent talk from the government and pressure groups has all been tinged with Euroscepticism. During David Cameron’s visit to France yesterday, the French foreign minister Laurent Fabius said he was unhappy with this attitude:

‘I find this process quite dangerous … The British population has got used to being repeatedly told: ‘Europe is a bad thing’, and the day they are asked to decide, the risk is that they will say well you told us: ‘Europe is a bad thing’.”

Fabius went on to use a football analogy to describe Britain’s behaviour:

‘One can’t join a football club and decide in the middle of the match we are now going to play rugby’

While Eurosceptic groups such as Business for Britain have managed to make their voices heard, the Europhiles will soon be ramping up their campaign to make the positive case of Britain’s EU relationship. Today’s Times reports that PR man Roland Rudd will join together with former South Thanet MP Laura Sandys to launch a ‘grassroots’ movement which will sell the benefits of Britain’s EU relationship.

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