24/12/2013
"Conservative politicians risk wrecking the recovery and threatening hundreds of thousands of jobs by 'pandering' to anti-European sentiment", says Danny Alexander, the man passing himself off as Chief Treasury Secretary.
Launching a pre-Christmas anti-anti-EU blast at his coalition allies, framed as an "exclusive" for the
Independent, he rehearses the same weary dirge, telling us that foreign companies could abandon their plans to invest in the UK if Tories mounted "a crude anti-EU campaign ahead" of the European Parliament elections next May in an attempt to counter the threat from UKIP.
For those throbbing with anticipation at the prospect of more words from this being, more detail can be found on the
Independent website, where Alexander asserts: "The fact that some senior Conservatives are arguing that Britain should vote to leave the EU is already unsettling investors and threatening jobs and growth. Further pandering to anti-Europeans would be bad for the British economy".
The newspaper is calling this a "pre-emptive strike", opening up a second divide inside the coalition, after Vince Cable did his best
to sow discord in the ranks. Alexander, is telling us that, the Liberal Democrats would actually campaign in the elections as "the party of in" and be "unashamedly pro-European".
Actually, for the party to campaign on EU issues will in itself be an innovation. We recall Lib-Dem euro-election material that completely failed to mention the EU and concentrated entirely on domestic issues.
But, if that is to be the innovation, the content is to be more of the same as Alexander "discloses" that his party will repeat the same old FUD, putting "at the heart" of the Lib-Dem campaign" the threat to jobs in each constituency if the public voted to leave the EU in the referendum David Cameron has promised in 2017.
The Lib-Dems plan to cite long-discredited "research" by South Bank University on the "3.5 million jobs" canard, this time extending it to locate that jobs that they claim will be lost if we bug out of
le projet.
For the record, the ten parliamentary constituencies with the most "EU-dependent jobs" are: City of London & Westminster (75,423); Birmingham Ladywood (27,499); Leeds Central (23,313); Holborn & St Pancras (20,253); Manchester Central (18,006); Sheffield Central (15,192); Glasgow Kelvin (14,030); Nottingham South (13,443); Islington South & Finsbury (12,824) and West Bromwich West (12,615).
Alexander wants us to believe that that, "A surge in anti-European sentiment in the Euro elections would send a shiver of doubt into the boardrooms of global companies that locate in Britain because we are a gateway to the EU single market". And so we can rejoice that, "With Labour confused on Europe, and the Conservatives divided", only the Lib Dems "will be campaigning at the European elections with an unambiguously pro-European message".
I wonder if Mr Alexander can begin to appreciate the level of wild enthusiasm with which we greet this news. How can our cups not flow over with him telling us that, "Pro-Europeans in Britain have been too quiet for too long", then assuring us that, "Next year is an opportunity to make our argument heard, and the Lib Dems will make sure we take it"?
Clearly, the Lib-Dems are serious in their madness, determined to commit electoral suicide. They have decided not to try to hide their enthusiasm for the EU project but to make a virtue of it, attempting to appeal to the estimated 20 percent of the electorate seen as pro-European, including many in the top AB social group and business community.
Great Leader Clegg thus says that the UK is entering "a critical phase" in its relationship with the EU and has appointed Michael Moore, former Scottish Secretary, as his adviser on European business. Moore will report by next summer on how businesses engage with the EU and the issues they face. We honestly can't wait.
