Many are saying that the Prime Minister has played his cards badly over Europe, even some who basically agree with him. The big mistake was to quit the Centre Right group in the European parliament, thus detaching from the association where plots would be hatched. This has isolated the UK in the parliament itself, leaving only the Council of Ministers as a place where any attention is paid to UK concerns. Aware of the need to demonstrate greater democratic accountability, the Council has begun to defer to the the parliament. Junker is the chosen candidate of the parliamentary majority. So he will be appointed. Cameron goes ballistic. Why?\u00a0What is the point of a parliament, democratically elected at an EU wide election with members from every country, if\u00a0it cannot put forward a candidate to head the Commission?<\/p>\n
The problem for Cameron is his party, split here there and everywhere over Europe, forcing him to appease and placate his MPs ahead of forming a coherent policy about which he can talk to his sympathizers across the Channel. So he is forced to talk in riddles, half the time with his foot in his mouth, so that in the end his sympathizers despair and head for Merkel. Hopes are now pinned on the prospect that she will offer him a sweetie to assuage his disappointment. Well, we shall see.<\/p>\n
It is the view of this Blog that whatever the imperfections of the EU it would be a mistake for Britain to leave it, \u00a0more so if Scotland leaves Britain. There is one caveat. The EU must\u00a0to stop needling Russia and come up with a coherent strategy to\u00a0engage with Putin and work a formula to bring the former Soviet superpower into the European family. If all the EU does\u00a0is to go on pushing East, scooping up some pretty dodgy associations in the process, while NATO does likewise, a powerful case could certainly be made for the proposal\u00a0that\u00a0Britain would be better off leaving both.<\/p>\n