The EU Referendum "question".

[Workingman]

Cameron's choice of language is going to get him into hot water.

He is in the Netherlands and France today and through their leaders he is tell all EU members they have to liten to 'him', to go with 'my' plans, to work with 'me' on what changes 'I' want.

He is already a partially lame-duck PM following his announcement that he will not go another term. If 'he' does not get any substantial changes the Tories might decide to remove him even before the referendum.

[Suff]

Cameron is playing a very difficult game where he is telling the EU that he supports them and they must support him because he is the only person who is going to fight to keep the UK in the EU.

Partially this is true. He also understands that they can sell this. The lone crusader trying to keep the EU together for the benefit of all, just give an inch and he'll only take half a mile to ensure that the EU remains 28.....

I doubt they are convinced though. But, also, apart from the stick of withholding payments, passing local laws which degrade the EU treaties and disenfranchise the European Courts, he doesn't have much other leverage.

It may come to the stick yet. It's time for everyone to remember that the UK is a net contributor and always has been. They need us a hell of a sight more than we need them. After all we're hardly Estonia.....

[Suff]

Manxie the biggest regret I have in all of this is that the UK simply does not know how to play the EU game. The EU is one huge protectionist bubble which applies economic sanctions to anyone who might threaten an EU industry. Witness the latest intervention where German solar manufacturing was unable to compete with China. So the EU slaps a 50% surcharge on all Chinese solar products. Overnight the only solar products available in the EU are German and they are 30% to 50% more expensive that the Chinese one's which have disappeared.

Of course the UK thinks it should all be about "fair trade" and so when our industries are threatened, nobody lifts a finger in the EU. So our businesses die. We become a service economy because the EU doesn't have one and we're good at it.

Just another reason I want us out of the EU, back to being competitive and working to grow the world economy rather than the pockets of inefficient and greedy EU businessmen.