Yesterday our team campaigned in Greycot Road, Braeside, Park Road and Southend Road in Copers Cope. Later in the day I went to Hayes where we canvassed along The Ridgeway and The Knoll finishing up at the New Inn.
On the stump I met several Conservative voters who said they were concerned about the possibility of us leaving the EU. I suppose the sudden arrival of Tony Blair into the General Election Campaign, speaking in support of EU membership, may have prompted their thoughts. Regardless what they said made me think once more on this somewhat knotty matter.
As things stand I would opt to leave the European Union (EU) if a referendum was held now. But that will not happen. I hope such a plebiscite will take place in 2017; after a new Conservative Government has had time to re-negotiate the terms of our membership. After all we are the only major political party to promise a referendum on Europe.
Yet, if I was a gambling man, I would place a bet on the fact that a 2017 national referendum on whether we should stay in the EU would end with a ‘Yes’ vote. EU members want us to stay and I believe they will change the rules to accommodate our worries. We have some allies; several other EU states also have concerns about the organisation. They too think the EU has become over-mighty.
My own reservations on the EU at the moment revolve around its interfering directives, its cost, its high-handed court judgements and its insistence that we cannot control who enters or is expelled from the United Kingdom. On that last point I also resent the fact that people from places such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada and indeed other Commonwealth countries have less right to enter and stay in the UK than someone from an EU country. In short I believe our national interests are not served well by our current EU status.
However I could be persuaded to adjust that view if things change and our membership works better in line with our national interests. Having a referendum on the EU should settle the matter for at least a generation. In his speech on Tuesday Tony Blair suggested EU membership was far too important and matter to be decided by the British people. He has a nerve and he is wrong. It is far too important a matter not to involve the British people.