Eurosceptics force Cameron to give ministers free rein on EU referendum

[John Drake]

Eurosceptics force Cameron to give ministers free rein on EU referendum

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jan/05/eurosceptic-tories-force-cameron-announce-ministers-free-rein-eu-referendum

 

David Cameron was forced to announce early that ministers will be given free rein to campaign on either side in the EU referendum after a manoeuvre by hardline Eurosceptic cabinet ministers.

Chris Grayling and Theresa Villiers, who are planning to join Iain Duncan Smith in campaigning to leave the EU, told the prime minister on Monday that he should clarify the position that ministers will be able to take during the campaign.

In a meeting in Downing Street, Grayling is understood to have argued that the referendum is a matter of such vital importance that voters should hear both sides of the argument from ministers.

Grayling, the leader of the Commons, also called for ministers to be allowed to campaign on either side from the moment the prime minister concludes the negotiations in Europe, rather than having to wait for the short period of the formal campaign. Grayling was pleased when Cameron conceded the point to the veteran Eurosceptic Tory MP Peter Bone in a Commons debate on Europe.

 

So it isn't just Jeremy Corbyn who has no control over his party on major issues, then...

[Trojan]

_{And then  the excrement will really hit the air conditioner}

[Griff9of13]

Depends how it's spun in the media: "Confident Cameron backs himself by permitting his cabinet a free vote on EU."

[JohnM]

 

Eurosceptics force Cameron to give ministers free rein on EU referendum

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jan/05/eurosceptic-tories-force-cameron-announce-ministers-free-rein-eu-referendum

 

David Cameron was forced to announce early that ministers will be given free rein to campaign on either side in the EU referendum after a manoeuvre by hardline Eurosceptic cabinet ministers.

Chris Grayling and Theresa Villiers, who are planning to join Iain Duncan Smith in campaigning to leave the EU, told the prime minister on Monday that he should clarify the position that ministers will be able to take during the campaign.

In a meeting in Downing Street, Grayling is understood to have argued that the referendum is a matter of such vital importance that voters should hear both sides of the argument from ministers.

Grayling, the leader of the Commons, also called for ministers to be allowed to campaign on either side from the moment the prime minister concludes the negotiations in Europe, rather than having to wait for the short period of the formal campaign. Grayling was pleased when Cameron conceded the point to the veteran Eurosceptic Tory MP Peter Bone in a Commons debate on Europe.

 

So it isn't just Jeremy Corbyn who has no control over his party on major issues, then...

 

 

 

Quite so. in my view, He should have enforced Cabinet collective responsibility and fired any offenders. if it forces a split, then so be it. Ken Clarke is right.

[ckn]

Quite so. in my view, He should have enforced Cabinet collective responsibility and fired any offenders. if it forces a split, then so be it. Ken Clarke is right.

The only way to deal with the outliers of policy is to paint them as outsiders.  For example, John Redwood's ridiculing mostly came from Tory internal spin and press releases that just took him from a slightly outworldly figure into a figure of ridicule when he has all the skills, talent and built-in nastiness of Tebbit but without the backing of the party leader.

 

By allowing the outliers to have the power-base of a ministerial position to argue their point they get credibility they shouldn't be allowed to have.  A seriously poor move by Cameron that he hopes will stop the party disintegrating.  If I were him I'd have told them to suck it and either resign their cabinet position or toe the collective responsibility line, I'd never have allowed such a divisive issue to split my Cabinet.

[Wolford6]

Bye Bye EU; Bye bye bureaucrats.

 

 

London Calling, to the far away towns
Now war is declared, and battle come down
London Calling, to the underworld
Come out of the cupboard, you boys and girls
London Calling, now don't look to us
Phoney Beatlemania has bitten the dust


The Ice Age is coming, the sun zooming in
Meltdown expected, the wheat is growing thin
Engines stop running, but I have no fear
'Cause London is drowning, and I live by the river

 

 

[Martyn Sadler]

The EU is an issue that cuts across political party boundary lines.

 

To try and pretend otherwise would be more divisive than accepting the reality.

 

To have a free vote is the only approach that makes any sense.

[gingerjon]

It does rather show we have a very, very weak Prime Minister.

[RidingPie]

The EU is an issue that cuts across political party boundary lines.

 

To try and pretend otherwise would be more divisive than accepting the reality.

 

To have a free vote is the only approach that makes any sense.

 

While there are labour, and even lib dem MP's who support an EU the conservative party is far more fractured over this issue.

[tim2]

Wilson allowed this in the 1970s and got away with it.

[Shadow]

Wilson allowed this in the 1970s and got away with it.

Yes but Cameron isn't half the man Wilson was

[ckn]

(didn't want to start a new thread so this one will do...)

 

And the cracks start widening in the Tory party.

[Wolford6]

Theresa May to outflank Osborne and Boris and lead the new post-poll Brexit Tory Party