Tories must start new civil war against Cameron over Europe

England was lucky to have a civil war in 1642 and this was not only because it lanced the boil of a king who wished to replace parliamentary government with a form of tyranny, but because since the Thirty Years War was on at the time none of the country’s main continental enemies was available to attack it, Simon Heffer said on Sunday.

The same is true today of the Tory party. The Prime Minister can match Charles I in high-handedness, as he showed last week in his dismissal of his MPs’ need to consider the predominantly anti-EU views of their constituency associations. Charles I was, however, straight, something one struggles to say of Cameron given his representation of the so-called “deal” he hopes to conclude with the European Union as a basis for our continued membership, Heffer added in a commentary that was published by the Telegraph.

Labour has its own troubles, and is in no position to capitalise on strife in the Tory party. Corbyn is wildly unpopular among MPs, whose first priority is removing him. The Tories have needed to lance their boil on Europe for decades. Now is their chance to do so, while inflicting minimum damage on themselves. Their leader and those loyal to him are determined to sell out by urging acceptance of a “deal” that changes almost nothing, and addresses none of the fundamental problems with the corrupt, anti-democratic, soviet-style EU. Tories should not be afraid to say so, and to strive to expose this dishonesty.

Not only are Tory activists and backbenchers furious at being patronised and deceived. So too are ministers who believe Britain’s future lies outside the EU. The Prime Minister’s campaign to win approval for a deal that his 27 fellow heads of government have yet to ratify is under way: yet none of those ministers who wishes to protest is yet allowed to do so. Rather like the Noble Revolt of 1642, ministers should call his bluff on this and start campaigning. Would he really sack perhaps a quarter of the payroll if they did?

The Tory party must not be afraid to expose the fraudulence of the claim that a vote to stay would give us a more autonomous existence within the EU. It would not, and many MPs feel their personal credibility would suffer if they said so. We would still be a huge net contributor; we would still have no say over who could enter Britain from the EU; and Parliament would still be required to approve directives from Brussels that were contrary to our interests and principles. And do not believe the rot about our exemption from the commitment to “ever closer union”. The EU exists to create such a Union, and everything it does, whether it says so or not, is directed to that end.

It is no coincidence that the only people to speak forcefully in support of the “deal” are detached members of the political elite, and the deracinated mouthpieces of big business. Many Tories understand the toxicity, in moral and electoral terms, of being seen in such company. With an election more than four years away and Labour in ruins, the moment is right for them to act according to their consciences. When the civil war is over there will be time enough to undertake repairs: and to continue to govern a country that, I hope, will by then have regained the right to govern itself.

Source: MENA