AT THE MOMENT UKIP IS A ONE trick pony. Its leader, Nigel Farage, has become the everyman of You Tube telling the European Parliament (EP) what they do not want to hear (including British Tory EMPs); and in doing so has created quite a following. His rhetorical duels within the EP, and his blunt, unceremonious attacks upon the whole institution and its many gravy train functionaries from the president downwards, have helped relieve the frustration and anger of Eurosceptics throughout Europe.
Mr Farage leads a party of, shall we say, well meaning amateurs whose names and performances within the EP have been largely ignored. What UKIP needs are defections from the Conservative Party of politicians that carry substance. At the moment only Mr Farage has the skill and political weight to see off his Europhile opponents; but his party will not play any significant role in the battle to seek a referendum unless he manages to attract dissenting Tories prepared to cross-over to UKIP.
It has been suggested that a Tory- UKIP coalition instead of one with the Lib-Dems, would prove to be ideal from a Eurosceptic viewpoint. Whether it would appeal to David Cameron, I very much doubt. In any case there is no way forward for such a consideration, unless UKIP manages to pick up parliamentary seats at the next election at the expense of enough Tories, to make the Tory Party amenable to a coalition under a different leader.
There is no doubt that, because of the eurozone crises, the British people are prepared to vote for a referendum on either staying in or leaving the EU. But while they are impressed with Mr Farage, they still see UKIP as a party belonging to the periphery, like the Greens. UKIP is, however, still in tune with the people’s zeitgeist . If we take it for granted that the economy is the British people’s top priority, it is followed by Europe and immigration soon after.
But both Europe and immigration have long since been ill-considered topics for endorsement, by the main parties, for fear of the kind of popular dissent that they feel would erupt from the electorate.
ALL OF THE THREE MAIN PARTIES are, as far as their various individual leaderships are concerned, Europhiles to a man or women. In this country they will make the right sceptical noises and will continue to do so, until they have captured a generation educated into the belief that nationhood is no longer a necessary component of modern Europe.
In an orchestrated belief in the future of a federal Europe, the centrist leadership of all the main parties in the UK will remain loyal to a single currency.
Greece must stay in the Euro! This is the call from David Cameron who fears that Greece’s exit would cause contagion among Europe’s southern members and lead to dangerous repercussions for the UK.
After 18 meetings by the EU over Greece’s perilous position , each one more cataclysmic than the last; I now believe the financial markets have become accustomed to such woeful episodes regarding Greece’s withdrawal from the eurozone; which had at one time, promised so much in terms of financial security… but delivered so little.
The financial markets have already calculated Greece’s removal from the euro and so it should not have the impact that the Europhile leadership of the three UK parties believed it would have.
UKIP HAS TO act under Nigel Frarage’s leadership, to bring UK eurosceptic MPs on board. To do this UKIP must attract to its ambitions the likes of John Redwood. Redwood is a supreme eurosceptic. He has the intellectual clout to advance the eurosceptic proposition, but he may still believe that the modern Tory party will, under Cameron’s leadership, keep the UK nation free from Europe.
As things stand among the main parties, their eurosceptic supporters are proving hard to tear away. But if, as seems likely, Greece will have to return to the Drachma to escape her eurozone misery, then the eurosceptics from all parts of parliament will call upon their leaders one last time to deliver an in/out referendum to British people.
If the party leaders continue, as they have done in the past, to ignore such requests from eurosceptic MPs, then UKIP will become an attractive alternative to being constantly ignored and despised by their party’s leadership.
If yet another appeal for a referendum is ignored, the eurosceptics will finally have to stand up and be counted, by warning Cameron and Milliband of their intention to go with UKIP if a referendum is not forthcoming within the lifetime of this parliament.
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