Posts Tagged “eu referendum”
Principle and Realpolitik: why the Lib Dems should back an EU in/out referendum
by Stephen Tall on June 18, 2014
My co-editor Caron Lindsay has asked the following question, amid reports senior Lib Dems want the party to commit to an in/out EU referendum in the next parliament: “What do you think? Stay as we are or shift our position?” My own view is the party has nothing to lose by offering a referendum in the 2015 […]
“The EU has provided us with the best Europe we’ve ever had”
by Stephen Tall on January 18, 2014
That was the claim in this very interesting essay by Robert Cooper – a visiting professor at the London School of Economic and a member of the European Council on Foreign Relations – in last week’s New Statesman. In it, he mounts a staunch defence of parliamentary democracy as the best way of deciding such […]
“The EU has provided us with the best Europe we’ve ever had”
by Stephen Tall on January 18, 2014
That was the claim in this very interesting essay by Robert Cooper – a visiting professor at the London School of Economic and a member of the European Council on Foreign Relations – in last week’s New Statesman. In it, he mounts a staunch defence of parliamentary democracy as the best way of deciding such […]
An in/out EU referendum? Lib Dem members say no, by 55% to 36%
by Stephen Tall on August 13, 2013
Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. More than 600 party members have responded, and we’re publishing the full results. 55% of Lib Dems oppose in/out EU referendum The next Conservative election manifesto will [...]
An in/out EU referendum? Lib Dem members say no, by 55% to 36%
by Stephen Tall on August 13, 2013
Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. More than 600 party members have responded, and we’re publishing the full results. 55% of Lib Dems oppose in/out EU referendum The next Conservative election manifesto will […]
An in/out EU referendum? Lib Dem members say no, by 55% to 36%
by Stephen Tall on August 13, 2013
Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. More than 600 party members have responded, and we’re publishing the full results. 55% of Lib Dems oppose in/out EU referendum The next Conservative election manifesto will [...]
Lib Dem MP Martin Horwood socks it to the Tories over their “dramatic flip-flopping” on in/out EU referendum
by Stephen Tall on July 6, 2013
While most of the country was enjoying yesterday’s sunshine, the Tory party indulged its own carnival of (to coin a phrase) banging on about Europe. James Wharton’s private member’s bill legislating for an in/out referendum on the European Union to take place by 2017 (a pledge David Cameron has already conceded to his rebellious backbenchers, [...]
Will Ed Miliband “do a John Smith” and push for an early EU in/out referendum? There are advantages, y’know…
by Stephen Tall on June 29, 2013
Could Labour be about to “do a John Smith” to the Tories over the timing of an in/out referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union? In the 1990s, Labour wrought havoc on the fourth-term Tory government by (cynically) teaming up with the right-wing ‘Maastricht rebels’ to inflict damaging Commons defeats on their common [...]
Lib Dem MPs to abstain on Tories’ EU in/out referendum bill?
by Stephen Tall on June 14, 2013
On 5th July, Tory MP James Wharton’s private member’s bill — laying out Conservative plans for an in-out referendum on the EU in 2017 — will get its second reading. The Tories are on a three-line whip to support it (very unusual for a private member’s bill). Labour has confirmed they’ll shun the vote, branding [...]
Timothy Garton Ash is right: there is only one logical way for me to vote in 2015 – for the Conservatives
by Stephen Tall on April 23, 2013
Timothy Garton Ash wrote recently in the Financial Times of the looming — and profoundly paradoxical — choice facing the British voters at the 2015 general election in two years’ time: If … your priority is the unity of the (…)
