22/11/2012
"I have yet to see",
writes Peter Oborne, "any serious and coherent analysis of what a renunciation of British membership of the European Union would mean in practice". But if that really is the case, it can either because he hasn't been looking, or for a more fundamental reason, one that actually prevents daylight getting anywhere near his face.
Whatever the reason, Oborne exhibits the classic, small-minded arrogance of the legacy media, so typical of the
Telegraph which assumes that, if they haven't discovered it, it doesn't exist.
But there is another undercurrent here, in a piece headed, "EU budget: it is selfish of Eurosceptics to try to force David Cameron's hand - With Europe on the brink, now is the time for magnanimity, not self-serving posturing".
This newspaper supports continued membership of the EU and, while it will play at being eurosceptic, when it gets serious, it will always pull back from taking the final step â the political equivalent of
coitus interruptus.
Thus, Oborne is the man telling us that David Cameron's euroscepticism "has been principled and consistent since he first stood for parliament in 1997". That is what the
Telegraph means by euroscepticism â no wonder it is in bed with the europhile
Open Europe.
This is the face of your enemy. If it did ever come to an "in-out" referendum or, more likely, a vote on a "renegotiation" deal, you can bet that this paper would be on the wrong side. It may paint itself eurosceptic, but it is wearing false colours. It is the fifth column.
And almost proving the point for us, in terms of sentiment, there is virtually nothing between Oborne and arch-europhile
Timothy Garton Ash. Never was there a better example of the "above-the-line" political elites fighting their own corner. They may wear different badges yet we have here common pot micturation.
