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7 comments from readers

sunderkatwala
05 November 2009 at 13:00

I don't think there is that much difficulty for Ken Clarke.

He has assurances from David Cameron that the proposed sovereignty bill will not do what it says on the tin, and will do none of those things that the Supremacy Act he argued against would have done.

This, of course, means it would be very likely turn out to be a purely symbolic piece of political theatre, which would give the Eurosceptics nothing at all.

swatantra nandanwar
05 November 2009 at 14:32

It is becoming increasingly difficult for Ken Clarke to retain his dignity embedded in a hostile Euroskeptik Shadow Cabinet. He'll want to take his pension now and get to earning serious money outside Parliament now that Kellys put the dampers on second jobs.

subito
05 November 2009 at 15:03

He didn't get where he is today by being a man of scruples. The Tories only really want to chip away at the rights that benefit employees anyway, it's only the last few libertarians in the party that object to the post democratic corporate state on any other reason. So I don't see him having much real difficulty. Mehdi, you don't really see them renegotiating various treaties do you? That's about as likely as a hung parliament..

Mehdi Hasan
05 November 2009 at 15:47

Sunder - I have to say I disagree with you on this one and tend to agree more with "swatantra". Referendum or no referendum, sovereignty bill or not, the Tory cabinet is going to be far more Eurosceptic (phobic?) than the Major cabinet ever was and Ken Clarke will have to decide whether to give up a lifetime of pro-Europeanism as one government after the next mocks Britain's isolationism under Foreign Secretary Hague.

Subito - I think there's probably more chance of a hung parliament than the Tories successfully renegotiating treaties but, let's put it this way, they are going to have to do something to satisfy their Europhobic base or risk a re-run of the 1990s Euro-civil-war.

John
05 November 2009 at 16:14

Mehdi, I'm very interested to know your view on the EU's democratic deficit. I've just read your interview with Ben Bradshaw in which you again argue the case for electoral reform (of which I myself am in favour). Are your views similar to your fellow left-wing commentators in arguing that anyone who critques the EU and its anti-democratic tendencies (You MUST vote Yes! Disagree with any aspect of European integration and you are a relic of an imperialistic past!) wrong? Surely you agree that the EU must do much, much more to reform itself? The fact that its President will be chosen by a back room deal is surely evidence of this? What do you think about a refferendum on Lisbon on the same day as the election and an electoral reform refferendum?

Mehdi Hasan
05 November 2009 at 17:38

John - I'm not a fan of referenda in general. The only reason I campaign for a referendum on electoral reform is because that's what Labour promised as a precursor to actually changing the system. I think the idea of having referenda on treaties is not practical or realistic; it would bind governments and prevent meaningful decision-making and cooperation at a transnational level. I support representative democracy, not rule by plebiscite. I don't see why we need a referendum on Lisbon, when we didn't see the need for one on Maastricht or the Single European Act or our original entry in the Common Market.

As for the EU's democratic deficit, I do believe it needs to be addressed. But it's tricky because making the EU more democratic means making it more federal and pooling more powers and that pisses off the same people who criticise it for being undemocratic (i.e. "Eurosceptics"). I do, of course, distinguish between those little Englanders in UKIP and on the Tory backbenches who are driven by xenophobia and petty nationalism and those on the left like Seumas Milne, in today's Guardian, who criticises the EU for lacking democracy (i.e. your point about the presidency being stitched up behind closed doors) and for entrenching corporate interests. I think both are valid criticisms but that doesn't change the fact I am a Europhile because I believe in supranational organisations, the sharing of powers and influence, common goals, and the advance of minimum standards in terms of public services, worker's rights, carbon emissions, human rights, etc.

Chris C
06 November 2009 at 05:34

Surely Clarke is getting just what he wants. The big story here is the Tory retreat on a referendum, signalling that they will come to an accommodation with the EU, however reluctantly. The Sovereignty Bill and promises of renegotiation are just fig leaves to cover this retreat and appease the Tory base. Whisper it quietly, but this move may well mark a new Tory realism on Europe. Cameron is a Eurosceptic rather than a Europhobe, and has probably learned his lesson after seeing how much leaving the EPP cost him in terms of relations with Sarkozy and Merkel. Clarke knows this and will doubtless have reasonable hopes that Cameron as PM will play a constructive role in the EU and face down the ultras in his party.