Poodles, one and all

There appears in today's Daily Telegraph two pieces of rubbish, one journalistic and one political on the subject of the European Union and a possible referendum on our membership. John Redwood has also, briefly, posted on this subject too, however it must be said that of all the writing about Conservative eurosceptics europlastics and not only their motives but also the motives of those organising and pushing the calls for a referendum, Richard North has a cartoon on a post today, one which neatly encapsulates the entire subject of the Conservative Party, Cameron and his MPs.

With regard to Mark Pritchard's article, Richard North is quite correct to intimate that this is just more of the same smoke and mirrors - where EU membership is raised amongst the Conservative Party - and that at the end of the day the choice is quite simple: 'In' or 'Out' - there is no 'half-way house'. The reported statement by Danny Alexander that: "As the eurozone seeks to deepen its integration – and we need it to do so more quickly – they will need our support. And they will get it." is but further proof that democracy is flawed and that we do indeed live under a system of elected dictatorship.

Much as I believe a referendum on our membership of the EU is long overdue, especially as the situation we now have is totally different to that which we were led to believe we were voting for in 1975, I am concerned that any such referendum would not be held on a level playing field and would thus not be a fair fight. An EU referendum may well be part of the mechanism by which Britain eventually leaves the EU but we know that the EU protagonists regard “in” votes as final and binding and “out” votes as merely provisional. For some idea of the likely forces of manipulation which would be available to the “in” side, people should refer to the Eurofacts document “How they swung it in the early Seventies” and to the Anthony Royle report, now released under the Thirty Year rule, of the press and public relations campaign waged by HMG to influence public opinion in favour of EEC membership at that time.

Returning to the heading of this post and the general acceptance that poodles are soft, compliant animals - a characteristic that Conservatives MPs exhibit, hence the comparison - there are those who believe it may be unfair thus to so classify them. Some would argue that they are exhibiting more of that 'British bulldog spirit', that they are in fact standing up to the EU. Such a view would be misplaced as we know that bulldogs are docile and that over the years as breeders have worked hard to breed any sense of aggression from them, so have the Conservative Party with their MPs. Anyway, be they poodle or bulldog, they all roll over to have their stomachs tickled...........

Update: I promise I have only just seen this - courtesy of a certain Boiling Frog -and wrote my bit about tickling stomachs beforehand, however that Pritchard's article is but more of the same, consider Will Heaven:

"That's the trouble though, isn't it? The 1922 committee promises brave rebellion to the public, but in Parliament pro-Cameron, pro-Europe "realpolitik" is the order of the day."

And that is not just the 1922 Committee either - that is the Conservative Party!