Mark Pritchard has followed up his grievances over Europe in The Telegraph today, claiming that David Cameron's weakness on Europe has forced him to resign from his job in the International Office.
I disagree.
Cameron's effect on the Tory Party has been profound. Among Conservative Party voters, members and activists, anti-EU sentiment remains commonplace. In fact, it's growing.
Yet because of the A-list, a highly controlled MEP selection procedure and so forth, it is the Tory Party itself which is leaving behind its Eurosceptic bedrock of support. It is the Tory Party itself that is now at odds with the likes of Mark Pritchard - he is the exception, the Cameroons are now the rule.
No longer does the Conservative Party talk of lower taxes, less government and the battle against a federal Europe. This Tory-led government is positively encouraging Euro fiscal union, even throwing billions of pounds of British taxpayers' money into the scheme to sustain the doomed Eurozone.
Some may say that 81 Tory MPs defying the whip and voting for an EU referendum is monumental. That depends. In terms of a rebellion, sure.
However, it also means that less than one in three Tories in the House of Commons wants the British people to even have a say on the issue. That surely demonstrates a huge commitment to Britain's continued support for the European Union, even as the Union is being exposed as flawed and ill-thought out like never before. The vast majority of Conservative MPs' loyalty lies with Cameron over the public.
Just as Tony Blair scourged true socialists and principled left-wingers from the Labour Party in the hunt for power, Cameron is doing the same to the Conservative Party (whilst failing to win the election). Anyone who stands for small-c conservative values isn't welcome anymore. The centre-ground doesn't welcome Eurosceptic conviction.
Within a Party that has a leadership process very heavily skewed towards the influence of its MPs, and a system of selecting MPs that relies strongly on Cameron's approval, it is hard to see a way forward for the likes of Mark Pritchard. I'm afraid the Tory Party has left him, just as it did Stuart Wheeler, Lord Hesketh, Lord Pearson of Rannoch, Lord Willoughby de Broke, Roger Helmer and so many more.
2 comments:
I've been reminding Mark Pritchard for years that his constituents oppose the EU, want an English Parliament, etc. yet it's taken a falling out with his party over the circus animal ban to make a "principled" stand. While he still props up the pro-EU Tories I'll remain sceptical about his new-found euroscepticism. We will, of course, make him welcome in our branch if he decides to do the right thing and stop supporting the pro-Eu Tories and join UKIP.
"ust as Tony Blair scourged true socialists and principled left-wingers from the Labour Party in the hunt for power, Cameron is doing the same to the Conservative Party (whilst failing to win the election). Anyone who stands for small-c conservative values isn't welcome anymore. The centre-ground doesn't welcome Eurosceptic conviction."
Tony Blair was in a position great strength and could do much more, our Cameron is not. However, on the issue of Europe, I think we need to be realistic. We want powers back and rightly so. But we also need to give back something. I'd wish we were not part of anything but trade. However, practically, it will not happen! We should be realistic. So we should try, if possible to commandeer this Europe thing and make it do our bidding. We can try getting out but it will be messy. UKIP is gaining momentum but it will begin to slow when reality hits. They are currently riding on a wave of a momentary emotional dissatisfaction. We the conservatives need to fix this, but with regards to immigration, it will be a serious task. We can't even police our borders properly due to deficit reduction. This is part of the reality check. Time to get real and get something that will get us back 90% of whatever we've given to Europe. It's our turn
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