Eurosceptic Tories have a new voice to herald their cause: Nigel Lawson. The former Chancellor and Spectator editor announced in an op-ed he is becoming the president of Conservatives for Britain, a group working with the Matthew Elliott-Dominic Cummings Out campaign. Lawson explains his explains his red lines for Britain remaining in the EU and suggests the government is unlikely to achieve them:
‘I am not party to the negotiations between ministers and the EU but it is clear that now is the time for David Cameron and George Osborne to set out some red lines. My priorities would be fourfold: the end of the automatic supremacy of EU law over UK law; the ability for the UK to negotiate its own free trade deals with fast-growing countries such as India and China; the ability to control immigration from other EU countries to the UK; and the explicit renunciation by the EU of its absolute commitment to “ever-closer union”.’
Although signing up Lawson is a coup for the campaign, the main thing to note about Lawson’s new role is he is president of Conservatives for Britain while Steve Baker, the MP for Wycombe, and David Campbell Bannerman, an MEP for the East of England, remain the co-chairmen. Lawson will offer advice and guidance to the CfB group but current Tory MPs and MEPs are more likely to be the public faces of the campaign, i.e. the folks popping up on TV in debates. Nor is Lawson likely to lead the official Leave campaign.
In his Times op-ed, Lawson articulates some of the the concerns about the Elliott-Cummings Out camp about the other voices fighting for a Brexit — which so far include Ukip and Arron Banks’ Leave.EU campaign:
‘If we leave the playing field vacant, less moderate, xenophobic voices will dominate the debate and we will fail as soon as the government, the major political parties, the CBI and trade unions declare that they are backing the “in” campaign.’
In response, Nigel Farage has released a statement welcoming Lawson to the CfB group but goes on to say he is a throwback to the past and his reach is restricted to Conservatives/the Westminster bubble:
‘Lord Lawson calls for all to support his campaign but the fact that it is called Conservatives for Britain and that he is so intimately associated with the Thatcher years is bound to limit appeal to Conservative voters. The Leave campaign must reach across the spectrum to everyone. ‘He also appears to take a swipe at those of who who believe immigration is going to be the defining issue of this referendum campaign. Whilst arguments on the economy, trade and cost are of course important, it is clear that EU open borders are of more of a concern to the British people than ever before and must be a major part of the argument as to why we must leave the European Union.’
The infighting among Eurosceptics is unlikely to end anytime soon and the longer it goes on, the harder the job of winning the referendum becomes. All of the camps are aware of this, but they all want to run the Leave campaign in their own way and ultimately win. While Farage is right in saying Eurosceptics need to reach beyond Westminster, trashing one of the most respected Chancellors of modern times is not the right thing to do. He needs to build bridges with Tories and work together to win the debate.
UPDATE: Leave.EU has released a statement from Arron Banks, Richard Tice, and Jim Mellon on Lawson’s new position. They have kindly told him to ‘shut-up’:
‘The announcement that Lord Lawson is ‘leading’ the campaign to leave the EU is wrong. He’s leading ‘A’ campaign that is run by the ‘Westminster bubble’ from SW1. When are these politicians going to learn that this campaign cannot we won from SW1. It has to appeal to the people, not the small clique of Eurosceptic Tories. ‘It would be better if the Eurosceptic Tories just ‘shut-up’ as they are going to alienate the vast majority of people who will look at this campaign as a Tory stich-up. ‘The Leave.eu campaign is about the people of Great Britain which includes Labour, Lib Dem UKIP Tories and anyone else who believes we should vote to leave the EU at the next referendum. If the Tories keep using has beens like Lord Lawson and the other Eurosceptic rabble then that will turn off supporters. So get back in your box Nigel and let the people support a peoples campaign not an SW1 bubble brigade.’
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