Really? I thought quite the opposite. Farage had a barrage of statistics about doing business with Iceland and Europe. Clegg repeated the same old tired rhetoric about Farage wanting to 'turn back the clock'. Eventually he pulled the last straws over gay marriage and women 'knowing their place' in the home - it reeked for desperation.
I do agree with you about business supporting it - but that could all change, and I certainly don't think it's an acid test over whether we should stay or go. (though it is important - I hasten to add!)
Oh, I don't deny that Clegg was p**poor, but that doesn't mean that Farage was any better in terms of what information he actually conveyed, as opposed to what emotional buttons he was trying to press. Plus, it's what he
didn't say that's far more important.
There are two big problems with Farage's assumed renegotiation, and it's remarkably reminiscent of the one Salmond had until recently:
a) There's nothing to suggest Europe would actually let us have it. In fact, there's quite a lot to suggest it would very much be an in or out thing, as setting the precedent for partial withdrawal (which is what it would be in law) would make quite a lot of other countries consider doing the same. Disastrous from the EU's perspective.
b) It would certainly not be strings free. I don't mean that the EU would be vindictive or restrictive about it (unless they are - covered in my last point), but that to do business with Europe in the fashion that Switzerland or Norway do requires complying with vast amounts of their legislation, politically and economically. Even the loosest of deals would require retaining the majority of legislation, with absolutely none of the say with regards to getting it changed if we don't like it. If anything, we'd be in a worse state than before. Switzerland is surrounded by the EU, forcing it into such a position, and Norway has oil that mitigates the problems. We'd be left with the choice of near de facto membership or cutting them off entirely - not great either way.
Now, this says nothing about the levels of immigration or the ECHR, which are the two biggest gripes that people have been having. However, neither of these will change if we do leave.
Firstly, the ECHR is something we were a member of before the EU existed, and we would continue to be a member even if we left completely. I do find it ironic that people complain about it so much here, though, as it was a document drafted by British lawyers precisely to enforce British morals on Europe. The fact that a lot of people seem to want to abolish it does make me think Britain has changed, but perhaps not in the way the average Daily Express reader assumes.
Secondly, immigration levels are as high as they are because it helps business. It's a fallacy to assume that there are a set number of jobs in the country at any one time, as many jobs are dependent on the economy, each other, market fluctuations etc. There really are quite a lot of jobs that people here simply refuse to do because they give low pay, little/no benefits and are unsustainable for someone used to living in the UK. A lot of immigrants have filled these positions well for a variety of reasons. The last thing the government wants to do is to make Britain (and especially London) unattractive to global companies by reducing their source of labour, or worse, forcing them to pay higher wages.
It's not fair and I don't really agree with it ethically (even though I do generally support immigration), but the fact is that hell will freeze over before Britain stifles growth by artificially limiting the jobs market. What the government says is a problem and what it thinks is a problem are two very different things. Also, I do love the contradiction between immigrants coming over to steal benefits and immigrants coming over to steal jobs. Which is it?
The reason there won't be a referendum on the EU is because the government knows all of this, but has been idiotically using them as a convenient scapegoat for the past 15 years. It's only now that they're beginning to realise the implications of this. Now, there are obviously Conservatives opposed to the EU, but Tory backbenchers clamouring on about it aren't the ones with daily contact with the civil service, who are the real power behind government, and most certainly in favour of the EU. It's no coincidence that all those in the cabinet support membership.
