YOUR SAY: David Cameron's European Union speech (From Lancashire Telegraph)
When news happens, text LT and your photos and videos to 80360. Or contact us by email or phone.
YOUR SAY: David Cameron's European Union speech
10:11am Wednesday 23rd January 2013 in News
David Cameron delivers his speech this morning
David Cameron has promised an in/out referendum on the UK's membership of the European Union by the end of 2017 if the Conservatives win the next general election.
In a major speech in London, Mr Cameron said that the Conservative manifesto for the 2015 general election will ask for a mandate to negotiate a "new settlement" for Britain in Europe, which will be put to voters in a referendum within the first half of the five-year Parliament.
But the Prime Minister said he will campaign "with all my heart and soul" for Britain to stay in the European Union when the referendum comes. And he warned voters that if the UK did decide to leave, it would be "a one-way ticket, not a return".
Speaking to a business audience in the City of London, Mr Cameron called for a new EU treaty to reshape the 27-nation bloc, resolve the problems of the eurozone, allow the transfer of powers back from Brussels to national governments and make Europe's economy more competitive and its institutions more flexible and democratically accountable.
Mr Cameron said it was his "strong preference" to enact these changes for the whole EU, not just Britain alone. But if other member states are unwilling to go ahead with a new treaty, Mr Cameron said he was ready to renegotiate the UK's position to achieve a settlement "in which Britain can be more comfortable and all our countries can thrive".
Standing in front of a backdrop with the slogan "Britain and Europe", Mr Cameron said: "The next Conservative manifesto in 2015 will ask for a mandate from the British people for a Conservative government to negotiate a new settlement with our European partners in the next Parliament.
"It will be a relationship with the single market at its heart. And when we have negotiated that new settlement, we will give the British people a referendum with a very simple in or out choice. To stay in the EU on these new terms or come out altogether. It will be an in/out referendum. Legislation will be drafted before the next election. And if a Conservative Government is elected we will introduce the enabling legislation immediately and pass it by the end of that year.
"And we will complete this negotiation and hold this referendum within the first half of the next Parliament. It is time for the British people to have their say. It is time to settle this European question in British politics."
Wednesday's speech, which has been six months in the planning and was postponed from last week because of the Algerian hostage crisis, comes amid growing Tory backbench concern about the rising tide of support for the UK Independence Party (Ukip), which has recorded poll ratings of 10% or more with its call for an immediate in/out poll.
Mr Cameron acknowledged that public support for the EU is "thin" in the UK, where concern over the lack of democratic accountability is "particularly acute". But he argued that a vote now between the European status quo and departure would be "an entirely false choice", as the EU is set to be "transformed perhaps beyond recognition" over the coming years by the measures needed to save the single currency.
Comments(24)
Noiticer
says...
10:25am Wed 23 Jan 13
I voted 'No' twice in the two previous referenda to join the EU because back then it was just about being a business club. Now I would definitely vote 'Yes' to stay in the EU for many reasons but especially because it gives workers protection against the predatory plans of our right wing Tory Party who care nought for the rights and condition of the ordinary people of our country.
shytalk
says...
10:43am Wed 23 Jan 13
coolnesscoolness wrote:Thankyou for that. I am signing it now.
More empty promises from Cameron
Sign this petition to allow UKIP to take part in the 2015 TV election debates:
http://epetitions.di
rect.gov.uk/petition
s/43153
Wishingwell
says...
10:52am Wed 23 Jan 13
Noiticer wrote:I actually vote the exact opposite. I wouldn't call Europe a political car crash more a socialist stock car being driven by a very clever German and we don't want to get too near to it.
David Cameron's decision to hold an in/out EU referendum is all about avoiding trying to patch up the massive split in the Tory Party and the fear of UKIP taking votes from the Tory Party at the next election. The whole thrust of the argument is also about repatriation of powers to the Uk from Brussels. The powers he really wants back are those controlling employees'/workers' rights because he would dearly love to sweep many of them away thus helping his rich business friends, sponsors and supporters and returning working conditions in the UK back to something like they were in Victorian times.
I voted 'No' twice in the two previous referenda to join the EU because back then it was just about being a business club. Now I would definitely vote 'Yes' to stay in the EU for many reasons but especially because it gives workers protection against the predatory plans of our right wing Tory Party who care nought for the rights and condition of the ordinary people of our country.
ToffeeGuy
says...
11:21am Wed 23 Jan 13
Our future lies at the heart of Europe. We are no longer a major force in the world. We need to be in Europe to maintain prosperity and jobs. We can't compete with the likes of China, India and the USA unless we are part of a coherent bloc of countries in the EU.
Cameron's empty promise is just a side swipe at Ukip.
Wishingwell
says...
12:10pm Wed 23 Jan 13
ToffeeGuy wrote:It's not about being a little Englander. It's about maintaining a useful alliance whist retaining some self respect and not being sucked in by the German machine.
I am fed up with 'little Englander' attitudes.
Our future lies at the heart of Europe. We are no longer a major force in the world. We need to be in Europe to maintain prosperity and jobs. We can't compete with the likes of China, India and the USA unless we are part of a coherent bloc of countries in the EU.
Cameron's empty promise is just a side swipe at Ukip.
Noiticer
says...
12:24pm Wed 23 Jan 13
Real Lancs Assembly
says...
12:26pm Wed 23 Jan 13
Wishingwell
says...
12:32pm Wed 23 Jan 13
Noiticer wrote:It is not me that hasn't seen the world. Germany is doing "so well" at the expense of the rest of Europe. We would end up with the Toffs jumping ship into their off shore life boats whilst the rest of us become a German labour pool just like Greece ,Spain,Portugal etc.
Time Wishingwell paid an extended visit to all parts of Germany to see how far behind we are economically, socially and environmentally. By comparison we are a third rate nation and declining further. When one travels around Europe one realises how pathetic the current political argument is.
burnleyglentoran
says...
12:50pm Wed 23 Jan 13
ToffeeGuy wrote:Honda sell thier cars to the shrinking, bankrupt EU.
I am fed up with 'little Englander' attitudes.
Our future lies at the heart of Europe. We are no longer a major force in the world. We need to be in Europe to maintain prosperity and jobs. We can't compete with the likes of China, India and the USA unless we are part of a coherent bloc of countries in the EU.
Cameron's empty promise is just a side swipe at Ukip.
They are making redundancies.
Jaguar/ Land Rover sell to growing rich up and coming India, China, Brazil.
They are recruiting.
Europhiles like you have short sighted horizons. There's a whole world out there to trade with.
The world has moved on and the EU experiment has been left behind.
There's a whole world out there to trade with and be RUN by.
STOP BEING A LITTLE EUROPEANER
burnleyglentoran
says...
12:54pm Wed 23 Jan 13
Money well spent?
BRITISH TAXES SHOULD BE SPENT ON BRITAIN.
FULL STOP
wrinkles
says...
1:11pm Wed 23 Jan 13
Wishingwell
says...
1:32pm Wed 23 Jan 13
wrinkles wrote:Maybe they would correspondingly invest in this country then in order to sell their goods here. When it comes down to game theory each side backs off or risks serious injury beyond the benefit of any gain.
I voted twice to belong to the Common Market. What we could face if we opted out altogether is if Europe erected trade barriers such as those all countries operated prior to the Common Market. It could be that our car manufacturers and others were not allowed to export to the EU and sell in quantity above a set ceiling. Manufacturers would then have no option but to open another factory in the EU and/or in another part of the world which could import into the EU market place.
burnleyglentoran
says...
1:56pm Wed 23 Jan 13
wrinkles wrote:So the germans wont sell us Mercs, VW, Bosch
I voted twice to belong to the Common Market. What we could face if we opted out altogether is if Europe erected trade barriers such as those all countries operated prior to the Common Market. It could be that our car manufacturers and others were not allowed to export to the EU and sell in quantity above a set ceiling. Manufacturers would then have no option but to open another factory in the EU and/or in another part of the world which could import into the EU market place.
The French wont sell wine, cheese.
"The Skys going to fall in, the skys going to fall in!"
Trade - Yes
Governed by the Krauts - NEIN DANKE
Noiticer
says...
2:07pm Wed 23 Jan 13
All in all we have a lot to learn from the Germans (and our other near neighbours in northern Europe) rather than castigating them. They have pursued thrift, diligence to detail, looked after their workers and tried to create more equal societies and are reaping the benefits. Whereas in the UK ............!!!!!???
??
Wishingwell
says...
2:41pm Wed 23 Jan 13
??
I agree with lot of what you're writing. I would not underestimate a German ever, but if we get in to bed with them they will take advantage. That too is human nature! We need to stay in control of our own rules and destiny.
Progressive Penguin
says...
3:35pm Wed 23 Jan 13
midas
says...
3:54pm Wed 23 Jan 13
Progressive Penguin wrote:Well put!!
Half of the comments above are exactly why we shouldn't be giving a vote on something so vital to the masses
.
What we need is proper information that will inform an educated debate. At the moment we just get half cocked theories and speculation depending upon your political hue.
.
Where do we find the info on the financial advantages or disadvantages of being in the EU? Where do we find the info on how much EU spending goes to the UK? What do UKIP actually stand for and how do they cost their alternative? What do the Trade Unions want, what does the CBI want etc etc?
.
The problem with a referendum is that too many people will vote without knowing what they are voting for and what the consequences are.
Good call
says...
5:01pm Wed 23 Jan 13
Progressive Penguin wrote:You sound just like a globalist, "the slaves are waking up to what is at the end of the eu rainbow (one Europe government ,we need a propaganda campaign to scare them into staying in the fascist eu" is what you really mean.Why should we be cutting police numbers and putting uni fees up when we are throwing billions into the eu.If anyone is gullible enough to trust cameron on his referendum "promise" then they deserve what they get.
Half of the comments above are exactly why we shouldn't be giving a vote on something so vital to the masses
Excluded again
says...
7:22pm Wed 23 Jan 13
BIG BOSS
says...
6:11am Thu 24 Jan 13
happycyclist
says...
10:34am Thu 24 Jan 13
The argument about workers' rights and going back to Victorian times: wake up! we're already going there. Both Labour and the Torys have allowed parasitic agencies to corner the market for the low-paid workers that you are defending.
Every day we read stories of criminals who take advantage of the European Court of Human Rights when we can all see the insanity of these over-rulings.
Steve4x4
says...
5:12pm Thu 24 Jan 13
Bloodnut
says...
5:34am Fri 25 Jan 13
wrinkles wrote:If that was the case and I think it is highly unlikely, the UK with its newly returned seat on the WTO could and no doubt would take action against this.
I voted twice to belong to the Common Market. What we could face if we opted out altogether is if Europe erected trade barriers such as those all countries operated prior to the Common Market. It could be that our car manufacturers and others were not allowed to export to the EU and sell in quantity above a set ceiling. Manufacturers would then have no option but to open another factory in the EU and/or in another part of the world which could import into the EU market place.
coolnesscoolness says...
10:20am Wed 23 Jan 13
Sign this petition to allow UKIP to take part in the 2015 TV election debates:
http://epetitions.di
rect.gov.uk/petition
s/43153