Does David Cameron really want to tie Britain’s fate to a dysfunctional Super State bent on achieving the centralisation of political power through economic coercion at the governmental and individual level? Apparently not! Well, at least not this year.
There will be no new deal for Britain at the next EU summit on 17-18 December, according to the Financial Times. The prime minister is said to have abandoned hopes for a deal after an impasse on proposed four-year benefits ban for new migrants to the EU. Paris and Berlin are not amused.
The ‘four freedoms’
You can tell that EU leaders are keen to separate the issue of legal migration from the refugee crisis and from terrorism. The free movement of labour and people within the EU borders is one of the ‘four freedoms’ behind Union itself. But it’s obvious now that the free movement of labour coupled with a generous welfare state is a costly policy.
If it were just a matter of benefits and borders, the debate would be rancorous. But you’d expect the Prime Minister to get a compromise or a concession that he could use as the basis of a ‘stay’ campaign on next year’s referendum.
But when you add the inevitable issue of terrorism connected with the migration crisis (both real and imagined), the longer the vote is delayed, the more difficult it may be for the ‘stay’ camp to win.
Category: Brexit