Will Red Ed Now Be Forced To Promise A Referendum?

[ToraToraTora]

In order to get the UKIP votes back at the GE Cameron will now be majoring on the 2017 referendum. So will that force Labour to offer a similar deal?

[treetops68]

Be a big U-turn if they do.

[jim360]

I don't think he will, be he should be. I don't know if a referendum is worth fearing -- or, even if it is, that that's a good enough reason for not holding one.

[Quizmonster]

The current government is into the forties as regards u-turns in four years; that averages out to one every few weeks. Surely the opposition can be allowed one if they so choose!

[youngmafbog]

He just needs to stop being photographed eating sarmnies!

No he wont do that. Labour are still in arrogant denial and are sitting firmly on the fence. The one good thing from the liberals is they have made their call loud and clear. Good on them.

[modeller]

It wont make much difference at this stage . It hasn't done Cameron much good . It's too late . If genuine it should have been offered during this parliament, not several years down the line. It's a con' and seen as such by most people.

[ichkeria]

It doesn't seem - still - to have dawned on anyone that offering a referendum on the EU is not going to help combat the "threat of UKIP". It will only encourage them. This is a party which has no policies and which is not interested in policies, only vague, populist ideas.
Farage would love Labour to change its mind on a referendum because at the moment Cameron can claim with some plausibility that a vote for UKIP at the next general election will let in Labour - who DON'T want a referendum, whereas the Tories are the only party offering one. So vote Conservative and get a referendum, vote for anyone else and you'll not.

Leaving aside the fact that at the next General Election the issue of a referendum on the EU will NOT be the major one (and at this point I will for the umpteenth time just mention the recent YouGov poll that had a majority in favour of staying in the EU anyway), it really does need politicians to oppose UKIP head on. Labour can do this by denying Farage his big wish, because you can guarantee that if Miliband DOES change his mind Farage will claim it as another victory for UKIP - and he will of course be right.

[New Judge]

All well and good, ichkeria.

There's just one thing my feeble mind cannot grasp. All the "Mainstream" parties (including the Conservatives if they told the truth) are quite happy with the EU the way it is, are quite happy with the way it will continue to evolve if left unchecked. It's only a large number of the electorate that is unhappy with the status quo and what does that matter, after all?

That being the case, and bearing in mind that, if the opinion polls are accurate, a "Yes" vote is almost a foregone conclusion, why doesn't one of them - any of them - simply promise an unequivocal "In/Out" referendum immediately after the next election? No phoney "renegotiations"; no delay; no manipulation of the question.

If the issue, as is suggested, does not matter to the electorate then such a promise will make no difference to the voting intentions of most people. The plebiscite will return a resounding "Yes" vote and the issue will be settled for a good many years to come. Just what do they have to be afraid of? And in any case, since the function of government is to facilitate the wishes of the people (and not, contrary to many politicians ideas, the other way round) would it really matter if the people were given what they wanted? After all, it is they who will suffer the consequences of their folly.

Help me a bit here.

[ichkeria]

The main parties do not, as a matter of fact, believe in the EU staying the way it is. But, so far as I can make out UKIP is not in the least interested in the EU at all. They want us out. Full stop. Even if Mr Junckers had a "road to Damascus" moment and starting singing the praises of Mr Farage himself, and offered sweeping reforms and a retraction of the move to closer Europe-wide integration. Which is what makes me so suspicious of and their motives. That is not a responsible position to take. It IS a responsible position to look critically at the EU and to explore and carry out reform. And it may well be an ethical position eventually to offer a referendum. However, my point was that the "main" parties are making a mistake if they think it will appease Farage and co and undermine their support. It will simply look either like opportunism, or even "populism" and it's Nige who's doing the populism at the moment :-) No one else can compete on that front so it is useless trying.
What will do for UKIP at the next election is not the fact that other parties may offer a referendum on the EU, but the simple fact that people won't vote for them in an election that is actually about who governs Britain. It is probably wise for the Tories to have a referendum on their agenda, as they stand to lose most if they don't. I'd contend it will make little difference to Labour's prospects, whether you think it is the right thing to do or not.