Where there used to be talk of negotiation and reform, increasing numbers of journalists and those with influence on a national stage now regard the EU as an 'in or out' issue. It has been a slow but predictable process - after all, the public have long regarded 'Europe' as either something they want to leave or pay the price for and stay in.Niles Gardiner of The Telegraph is the latest to highlight the cause for an EU referendum. Only two or so years ago, anyone in a national newspaper or website championing this line of thinking would have been extremely rare and promoted heavily by anti-EU Eurosceptics. Nowadays it has become common place for right-wingers not wedded to the Cameron project. Gardiner himself is a former Thatcher aide and at a time when it is becoming increasingly obvious that many Thatcherites now want full EU withdrawal.
Mr. Gardiner does however make a fatal mistake in expecting David Cameron to listen to calls for a referendum. I still maintain that pro-EU politicians already have what they want - Britain in the EU. And I don't believe any of them think they could win a referendum on the subject, so why should they? Maintaining the status quo means that they have already won this particular battle, despite the public's growing Euroscepticism. Of course, they should respect democracy regardless of their own personal opinions - but I don't believe they will.
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