Eu

Tuesday

Tom Goodenough

Today in audio: Tuesday 2nd February

Haven’t had a chance to follow the day’s political events and interviews? Then don’t worry: here, The Spectator, brings you the best of today’s audio clips in one place for you to listen to. David Cameron gave his reaction following the publication of Donald Tusk’s proposals for Britain’s renegotiation with the EU. Speaking to a Siemens factory in Chippenham after skipping going to Parliament, the PM told workers: ‘If I could get these terms for British membership, I sure would opt in’ Given the PM’s absence in the Commons, it did not take long for Eurosceptics to pile in and attack the draft document. Steve Baker offered the most colourful

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Jeremy Corbyn is right: Cameron should have made his EU speech in the Commons

With David Cameron in Chippenham, it was left to the Europe Minister David Lidington to respond to Jeremy Corbyn’s urgent question. Cameron’s absence was poor form. Lidington manfully tried to claim that it was explained by the fact the government didn’t know when Tusk would publish the draft, but the media were only alerted that Cameron would give a speech in Chippenham after Tusk had said the deal would be announced at midday today. Number 10 is defending Cameron’s absence by pointing to the fact he’d already decided to give a statement to parliament tomorrow—once the MPs have had a chance to examine the deal. But it was entirely predictable

Tom Goodenough Tom Goodenough

Why won’t David Cameron come clean about his EU migrant benefits deal?

For the last three years, David Cameron has held out the prospect of voting ‘no’ in the referendum if he could not get the deal he wanted. Today he has – unsurprisingly – claimed victory. Yes, he says, there’s more to do on the draft deal – but it not too much because what he’s got is enough. He’s already in full referendum campaign mode, so made his statement to workers in Chippenham, saying: ‘If I could get these terms for British membership, I sure would opt in’ But how much of a compromise has it been? Cameron looked a little shifty as he was spoke ‘emergency brake’ on in-work benefits for migrants.

The Spectator

David Cameron’s draft EU Deal: full text

The following document has been released by the European Commission: The Heads of State or Government of the 28 EU Member States meeting within the European Council, whose Governments are signatories of the Treaties on which the EU is founded, DESIRING to settle, in conformity with the Treaties, certain issues raised by the United Kingdom in its letter of 10 November 2015, INTENDING to clarify in this Decision certain questions of particular importance to the Member States so that such clarification will have to be taken into consideration as being an instrument for the interpretation of the Treaties; intending as well to agree arrangements for matters including the role of national Parliaments in the EU and

Tom Goodenough Tom Goodenough

Boris Johnson: EU ‘red card’ is not enough

Downing Street is doing its best to spin national parliament’s right to use a ‘red card’ against EU laws – apparently won as part of the PM’s renegotiation with Donald Tusk – as a victory. But others are less impressed. David Cameron’s old friend Boris Johnson has been on LBC this morning talking about the EU renegotiation package. The London mayor, no stranger to being a thorn in the PM’s side, tried hard to appear convincing in backing Cameron. He said: ‘David Cameron has done a very good job at huge speed of getting a difficult package of measures.’ But Boris went on to say that what was on the

Alex Forrest

Can Denmark preserve its international reputation?

Copenhagen Denmark has had a difficult few weeks. While it’s used to grabbing the headlines for being the happiest country in the world or having an enviable work-life balance, lately the country has been hit by a torrent of criticism. Thanks to its tougher immigration laws, politicians have even had to deal with Nazi Germany comparisons. And it’s hurt – a lot. Last week, Parliament passed new rules including the controversial ‘jewellery law’. This gives police powers to confiscate valuables and cash worth more than £1,000 from refugees. Never mind that few believe this policy will ever be put into practice. It’s also made it much more difficult for those

Tom Goodenough Tom Goodenough

Eurosceptics get themselves in a tangle over EU red card

The Eurosceptic campaign – already divided between two camps – seems to have got itself into another tangle over the right to use a ‘red card’ to block EU legislation. Vote Leave chief executive Matthew Elliott has dismissed the proposal, which will allow Britain to kick start a process to block EU laws if 55 per cent of other European countries agree, as a ‘gimmick’. Speaking this morning, he said: ‘These gimmicks have been ignored by the EU before and will be ignored again as they will not be in the EU treaty’. But it seems the idea of a ‘red card’ has not always been viewed in the same

Monday

Steerpike

A warning flag on David Cameron’s Brussels negotiations

In the past week, David Cameron has held a number of last-minute talks with EU counterparts in the hope of agreeing a deal that can be put to EU leaders ahead of a summit on 18 February. This included a visit to Brussels on Friday to hold renegotiation talks with EP president Martin Schulz. Alas a flag gaffe on the part of workers at the European Parliament may have led to distress all round. Word reaches Steerpike that on the day of Cameron’s visit, the Union flag outside Parliament was hung upside down. The thick white parts of the diagonal cross ought to be above the thinner white parts — as historical advisor

Anand Menon

EU referendum: A third of MPs could still back Brexit

How many MPs will come out for Brexit? After hearing endless best guesses, we got rather fed up, and used Ipsos Mori’s Reputation Centre to conduct a proper survey of MPs. The total sample size is just under 100, with respondents included front and backbenchers, weighted accordingly. In total, half of respondents said they would be voting in favour of remaining in the EU, 11 per cent said that they would be voting to leave – but a full third said that their views would depend on the terms of any renegotiation. A further 3 per cent did not know how they would vote (and one respondent said that they

Sunday

James Forsyth

Emergency brake breakthrough, claims Downing Street

[audioplayer src=”http://rss.acast.com/viewfrom22/whysexmatters-thedeathofsportandistheeusinkingwhetherbrexithappensornot-/media.mp3″ title=”Isabel Hardman, James Forsyth and Fraser Nelson discuss whether the European project is in grave danger – regardless of Brexit happening or not” startat=1420] Listen [/audioplayer] Donald Tusk will not circulate the proposed draft UK/EU deal tomorrow. It had been thought that Tusk would put out a draft on Monday after final talks over supper with Cameron this evening. Instead, there will be further meetings between UK and EU diplomats, before Tusk decides whether or not to circulate a draft text to the other member states on Tuesday. In a statement tonight, Downing Street has said that the European Commission accepts that the current UK immigration situation would

Saturday

James Forsyth

Downing Street expects draft EU deal to disappoint

We are only days away from seeing Donald Tusk’s proposed text for the UK/EU deal. The President of the European Council is expected to circulate a draft early next week following his Sunday night supper with David Cameron. But, as I write in The Sun this morning, Downing Street is keen to stress that the publication of this draft doesn’t mean that the renegotiation is over. They are adamant that Cameron will have a chance to toughen up the terms at the European Council on February the 18th. Cameron’s problem is that he would like a deal at the February Council, so that he can have a referendum in June.

Friday

Fraser Nelson

With an 18-point lead in the latest poll, momentum is with the EU ‘in’ campaign. 

Why is David Cameron having such trouble persuading Jean-Claude Juncker to give in to his minimal demands for EU reform? The Prime Minister pledged, in a Tory manifesto, to restrict welfare for migrants for the first four years they’re in Britain: not as an ‘emergency’, but as a matter of routine. He was returned with a majority, and under British democracy this means it ought to happen. If the Lords were to try to frustrate this, the PM would overrule them because it was a manifesto pledge, voted on by the public. Why accept a veto from the EU? But the polls show a clear lead for ‘in’ – a ComRes

Tom Goodenough Tom Goodenough

David Cameron’s EU renegotiation headache as pressure mounts to get a deal

David Cameron gave all the appearances of being in a bullish mood as he said negotiations so far over Britain’s relationship with the EU were ‘not good enough’. Speaking after meeting Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels today, the Prime Minister said: ‘We’ve made some progress today, it’s not enough.’ He also again paid lip service to being seen to be grafting hard to get a good deal for Britain – repeating his line from last week when he said renegotiating was ‘hard work’. He added: ‘The British people and I want a system where you have to pay in, before you get out. We don’t want a something for nothing society.

Thursday

The Spectator

Portrait of the week | 28 January 2016

Home Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, prepared a paper on the four areas of concern between Britain and the European Union, as formulated by David Cameron, the British Prime Minister, for the EU to chew on at a summit in February. Nicola Sturgeon, the leader of the Scottish National Party, said that to hold a referendum on the EU in June would be ‘disrespectful’ to elections being held in Scotland. Tony Blair, the former prime minister, said he thought Scotland would leave the Union if the United Kingdom voted to leave the EU. Lord Parkinson, who as Cecil Parkinson was party chairman when the Conservatives won a

The Spectator

‘In’ trouble

David Cameron wants to get the European Union referendum over with quickly — and understandably so. Things are still going well for him, and his political opposition is in disarray. The ‘in’ campaign will draw heavily upon his personal authority and the public is not (yet) fed up with him. Ideally, he wants to start campaigning next month — and many of his allies are at it already. Opinion polls show a large number of undecided voters. So this may very well be a campaign where a great many are open to persuasion and hoping for a high-quality debate. They will have been disappointed so far. The ‘in’ campaign has

Steerpike Steerpike

Another day, another Johnson comes out for the In campaign

Although David Cameron has said he will allow ministers a free vote on the EU referendum, only a handful of cabinet ministers have so far taken the plunge and declared themselves to be ‘Outers’. While Boris Johnson had at one point been tipped to lead the Out campaign, the Mayor of London has remained rather quiet on the matter of late. However, if his family’s movements are anything to go by, he may well be preparing to get behind the Prime Minister on the matter. This week two members of the Johnson clan have suggested that they wish to remain in the EU. First, Jo Johnson — the Minister for Universities and Science — indicated in an article

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Three reasons why this Eurosceptic infighting is such a gift to David Cameron

There will have been gales of laughter in Downing Street and the In campaign this morning as they read Sam Coates’s account of the attempted coup in the No campaign. This Eurosceptic infighting is a huge gift to David Cameron for three reasons. 1). It will deter serious people from politics and business getting involved with the NO campaign. Few will want to sign up with a campaign that is already riven by infighting. Ministers and Tory MPs who were on the fence about what to do come the referendum, will be that much closer to sticking with the Prime Minister this morning. 2). Campaigns that win aren’t arguing about internal

The Spectator

Why does EU ‘in’ campaign insist on insulting voters’ intelligence?

David Cameron wants to get the European Union referendum over with quickly — and understandably so. Things are still going well for him, and his political opposition is in disarray. The ‘in’ campaign will draw heavily upon his personal authority and the public is not (yet) fed up with him. Ideally, he wants to start campaigning next month — and many of his allies are at it already. Opinion polls show a large number of undecided voters. So this may very well be a campaign where a great many are open to persuasion and hoping for a high-quality debate. They will have been disappointed so far. The ‘in’ campaign has

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Stay or leave, Europe is sinking anyway

[audioplayer src=”http://rss.acast.com/viewfrom22/whysexmatters-thedeathofsportandistheeusinkingwhetherbrexithappensornot-/media.mp3″ title=”Isabel Hardman, James Forsyth and Fraser Nelson discuss whether the European project is in grave danger – regardless of Brexit happening or not” startat=1420] Listen [/audioplayer]As Tory ministers wrestle with their consciences before the EU referendum, an intriguing new argument for voting to stay has emerged. Rather conveniently, it resolves the conflict between principle and personal loyalty to David Cameron that several members of the Cabinet are wrestling with. It goes like this: the European Union is going to collapse in the next ten to 15 years. So, you can vote for Britain to stay in, safe in the knowledge that the EU will be gone within a

Wednesday

Isabel Hardman

Eurosceptics to push Cameron on EU renegotiation in Commons debate

It’s fair to say that David Cameron’s answer to John Baron at last week’s Prime Minister’s Questions, in which the Tory leader basically confirmed to his backbench colleague that he was ignoring him, hasn’t exactly helped relations with the eurosceptics in the Tory party. The row was splashed across the front page of the Sunday Telegraph this weekend, and I now understand that Baron has secured a Commons debate that will take up the issue he has been trying to raise with the Prime Minister. Baron’s debate will be in a backbench business session on 4 February, and has a rather spiky motion for discussion: ‘That this House believes in the