What's it called when someone apparently sabotages their own plans? Calling it 'electoral suicide' might be too strong and 'shooting oneself in the foot' doesn't quite do it justice. How about 'beating the electorate over the head with conflicting propositions and then sitting back and blaming everyone else when you can't do what you said you would do but you knew that would be the case all along'?
I think that just about sums up Cameron's position on the EU but perhaps 'sabotage' isn't the word, perhaps it's been the art of politicking from the outset.
politic adj 1 said of a course of action: prudent; wise; shrewd. 2 said of a person: cunning; crafty. 3 old use political. See also body politic. verb (also politick) (politicked, politicking) intrans, derog to indulge in politics, especially to strike political bargains or to gain votes for oneself.
After looking at all the evidence M'Lud I conclude that Mr 'same destination; different path' Cameron has always wanted Britain to be in the EU. Ted Heath begged our way into it (I wish he were alive today. Still, come the revolution we can always dig him up and hang his bones on a gibbet in Parliament Square), Thatcher discovered what it was all about and stood her ground as best she could, John 'Maastricht' Major didn't.
The Trades Unions wanted to join the EU because they saw the EU as giving them more power - they imagined an EU-wide strike of, eg, postal workers. I bet they'll be amongst the first on the bonfire of vanities.
The Labour Party, composed as it is of Fabians, ex-Marxists, ex-Trots, and advocates of Common Purpose & Agenda21, have always been sneaky International Socialist backdoor-dogs. Some are useful idiots and the majority, Miliband, Brown, Balls, Straw et al, will find they are expendable.
Back to Cameron: In less than twelve months we have gone from this, which was a holding position, to this, when his prevarications were noted by the msm, and this, which we knew would be the outcome. In fairness, he has always said, "If the Lisbon Treaty has not been ratified by all 27 countries by the time there is a Conservative government, we will hold a referendum." When pushed, the line has always been, "We will not let matters rest there."
There was never any way on God's earth that the Lisbon Treaty would not be fully ratified by all twenty-seven countries if/when the Conservatives formed a government next May and Cameron knew it, even as he wrote to Vaclav Klaus asking him to delay the Czech signing (nice try, Dave).
We can expect sudden and major changes in our Constitution to become self-evident - things done behind closed doors will come out into the open and why not? After all, in the words of EU Leaders, this Treaty is the final treaty and the EU won't need another: it is self-amending. Cameron's promise to put further treaties to the British people is hollow and he knows it. He must know it because even I know it. I think I'm right in saying that after Lisbon there's only one way to go back and that's to repeal the the 1972 European Communities Act.
That's the Party I'll vote for - the one that gives the British people a voice because I'm heartily sick of this damned stuff - look below at the Post of the Week from CharonQC or if you're feeling more poetic, read Philip Pullman's powerful statement on the state of our country.
What will it take? When will GK Chesterton's Silent People speak?
Cross-posted
If you ever wondered why the Conservatives where right to leave the EPP as they did, then 
