Ed Miliband knew that he would be challenged by David Cameron at today’s PMQs to say whether he will match his pledge to hold an in/out referendum on the EU. And he also knew that laconically replying, “I ask the questions”, wouldn’t be good enough. So his answer, when it came, was a clear one: “My position is no! We don’t want an in/out referendum.” It was a response that will have been greeted with cheers across CCHQ. The Tories now have an on-the-record pledge from Miliband to deny the voters a say on the EU.
Oddly, however, Cameron failed to take advantage of Miliband’s error. Rather than attacking the Labour leader for opposing a referendum, he accused him of having no position at all. “His whole argument about uncertainty is undermined by his inability to say whether he supports a referendum or not”, Cameron said, adding: “go away and get a policy”. For today, at least, Miliband was spared.
The Labour leader devoted most of his questions to asking Cameron whether he would still campaign for an “in” vote if his renegotiation strategy fails. The Prime Minister simply replied, “I support Britain’s membership of a reformed EU”, leaving open the question of whether he supported Britain’s membership of an unreformed EU.
A better response came when he declared, “only the leader of the opposition would go into negotiations expecting to fail.” As a holding answer, this is not a bad one. Since any renegotiation will not begin until after 2015, Cameron will not have to elaborate any further. He turned the debate to his advantage by arguing that Miliband was unable to answer “the most basic question of all”: do you want a referendum?” When the Labour leader replied “no”, the Prime Minister apparently failed to notice. His party, however, did. If Miliband continues to oppose a referendum, they can accuse him of denying the British people a say over an institution that has changed dramatically in the 38 years since the first and only EU referendum. If he later comes out in favour of one, they can accuse him of performing a humiliating U-turn. The Tories have Miliband exactly where they want him.
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