Ukip’s Douglas Carswell: Cameron's given up on EU reform – it’s all about scaring us now.
THE PM’s big EU speech in Reykjavik recently must
have seemed a frightfully clever idea when his special advisors first suggested
it. He
could fly to Iceland – a non-EU country – and use the Northern Future Forum’s
pan-Scandinavian get-together to warn about the dangers of Britain quitting the
EU and emulate Norway – another non-EU country.
The
PM’s not wrong about Norway’s relationship with the EU: she has got a duff deal
from Brussels. For the privilege of trading with the EU, Norway has to comply
with EU regulations over
which she has no say. Between 2000 and 2009, Norway had to adopt 9.1 per cent of
all EU legislation, over which she had no say.
She doesn’t have full control of her borders either.
Norway's deal with the EU is terrible. Almost
as bad as ours in fact. We had to adopt 100 percent of EU legislation over which
we have little say.
And
like Norway we cannot properly control our
borders either.
But who
is saying we should leave the EU and be like Norway? It's not the choice in
front of us - and the PM knows it. He's scaremongering.
What is significant about
the PM’s new tactic is what it tells us about the failure of his so called
renegotiation. Mr
Cameron once promised us their referendum would be a choice between leaving or a
new deal. Yet there is no significant new deal.
Today
marks the moment when he stops trying to sell EU membership on the promise of
better terms, and starts trying to frighten us to stay put with the way things
are. He is defending EU membership on current terms not any new deal. Hope of
better no longer animates the In side. It's all about fear.
Instead of using his visit to Reykjavik to lecture is
on the perils of independent self government, the PM ought to ask his Icelandic
hosts how they are able to trade freely with the entire world. Last
week, the PM met the Chinese President, he didn’t have the power to negotiate a
free trade agreement with China. We have ceded that sovereign prerogative to the
EU. But Iceland – whose population is the same size as Croydon – has had a free
trade deal with China for two years.
Iceland’s trade agreements give the lie to the
notion that trade happens to your advantage only if part of a big trade bloc.
Trade actually happens when it suits an individual buyer and an individual
seller. That’s
how the people of Iceland can trade on equal terms with the people of China. If
they can do it, why can’t we?
Iceland
has a pretty good immigration system too. When Icelandic businesses find they lack the necessary skills or the
labour to meet the demand for what they produce, they can access the migrant
workers they need through a functional, sensible visa system.
It suits the Icelanders, and it suits the migrants.
Why can’t we have that too? Express.
Norway's deal with the EU is terrible. Almost
as bad as ours in fact. We had to adopt 100 percent of EU legislation over which
we have little say.
And like Norway we cannot properly control our borders either.
But who is saying we should leave the EU and be like Norway? It's not the choice in front of us - and the PM knows it. He's scaremongering.
What is significant about the PM’s new tactic is what it tells us about the failure of his so called renegotiation. Mr Cameron once promised us their referendum would be a choice between leaving or a new deal. Yet there is no significant new deal.
Today marks the moment when he stops trying to sell EU membership on the promise of better terms, and starts trying to frighten us to stay put with the way things are. He is defending EU membership on current terms not any new deal. Hope of better no longer animates the In side. It's all about fear.
Instead of using his visit to Reykjavik to lecture is on the perils of independent self government, the PM ought to ask his Icelandic hosts how they are able to trade freely with the entire world. Last week, the PM met the Chinese President, he didn’t have the power to negotiate a free trade agreement with China. We have ceded that sovereign prerogative to the EU. But Iceland – whose population is the same size as Croydon – has had a free trade deal with China for two years.
Iceland’s trade agreements give the lie to the notion that trade happens to your advantage only if part of a big trade bloc. Trade actually happens when it suits an individual buyer and an individual seller. That’s how the people of Iceland can trade on equal terms with the people of China. If they can do it, why can’t we?
Iceland has a pretty good immigration system too. When Icelandic businesses find they lack the necessary skills or the labour to meet the demand for what they produce, they can access the migrant workers they need through a functional, sensible visa system.
It suits the Icelanders, and it suits the migrants. Why can’t we have that too? Express.
And like Norway we cannot properly control our borders either.
But who is saying we should leave the EU and be like Norway? It's not the choice in front of us - and the PM knows it. He's scaremongering.
What is significant about the PM’s new tactic is what it tells us about the failure of his so called renegotiation. Mr Cameron once promised us their referendum would be a choice between leaving or a new deal. Yet there is no significant new deal.
Today marks the moment when he stops trying to sell EU membership on the promise of better terms, and starts trying to frighten us to stay put with the way things are. He is defending EU membership on current terms not any new deal. Hope of better no longer animates the In side. It's all about fear.
Instead of using his visit to Reykjavik to lecture is on the perils of independent self government, the PM ought to ask his Icelandic hosts how they are able to trade freely with the entire world. Last week, the PM met the Chinese President, he didn’t have the power to negotiate a free trade agreement with China. We have ceded that sovereign prerogative to the EU. But Iceland – whose population is the same size as Croydon – has had a free trade deal with China for two years.
Iceland’s trade agreements give the lie to the notion that trade happens to your advantage only if part of a big trade bloc. Trade actually happens when it suits an individual buyer and an individual seller. That’s how the people of Iceland can trade on equal terms with the people of China. If they can do it, why can’t we?
Iceland has a pretty good immigration system too. When Icelandic businesses find they lack the necessary skills or the labour to meet the demand for what they produce, they can access the migrant workers they need through a functional, sensible visa system.
It suits the Icelanders, and it suits the migrants. Why can’t we have that too? Express.
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