This is nonsense

This is nonsense.I sense unease about this decision from Tony Blair downwards, nervousness about winning the argument over the timing of when a vote should be held and what this U-turn portends, not just for Britain but the whole of the European Union They are nervous for good reasons. Even after this latest dramatic U-turn, some of Mr Blair’s opponents accuse him of arrogance, claiming that he was convinced he was right to oppose a referendum and now he is equally confident he is right to hold one. As we all know, Mr Blair chose the second route.Mr Blair and other leading figures in New Labour suffer from the wholly inaccurate perception that they are arrogant, indifferent to the views of voters and the media They have never been arrogant enough. One was to conclude that, in spite of all that had gone wrong in Iraq, the Government was still ahead in most polls, the economy was strong, the Conservatives’ recovery was limited and, in the Commons, Labour presided over a massive majority.

In a position of such unprecedented strength, there was no need to give in to the screams for a referendum, made most forcefully by those who despise Britain’s involvement in Europe.The other way of looking at the situation was this: virtually everyone appears to hate us, in particular they think we are arrogant and do not listen, we will lose the next election if we alienate Rupert Murdoch’s newspapers We will give in and hold a referendum. Tony Blair’s decision to hold a referendum on Europe highlights the degree to which he continues to underestimate the strength of his political position and the weakness of his opponents.
There were two very different ways of reaching a decision on a referendum. Behind the supremely self-confident fa?e, New Labour has been defined always by a nervy defensiveness. Going down that path will only earn you the reputation of talking too much in too many platitudes.

In other words, a “Welsh windbag”.a.hamilton independent.co.uk
More from Adrian Hamilton. Within 20 years, the Church may well have lost its position as the established church and become a minority practice in its own country Part of this is due to general social trends. But part, too, is due to the institutional failings of a church that is irrelevent to the concerns of its parishioners and institutionally arthritic when it comes to questions such as the ordination of gay bishops.The Church’s parlous state is not going to be solved by becoming a voice in the political fray, however much the media may wish this role upon the Archbishop. He argues that Iraq and the dissembling of the Government has been a major factor in turning off the citizen from politics. In reality, the Church which he heads is part of that turn-off, not an independent commentator on it.