The one moment of spontaneous applause during Ed Miliband’s speech to business leaders today came when he declared: “I am absolutely convinced that our future lies in the EU”. Further applause followed as he reaffirmed his opposition to an arbitrary in/out referendum (Miliband would only hold one in the unlikely event of a further transfer of powers to Brussels) and said “it is not the priority for the country”.
The EU is the one issue on which Labour has an unambiguous advantage over the Tories with business. Indeed, it is precisely this that troubles Len McCluskey (whose union has voted in favour of a referendum). He said yesterday: “As things stand, Labour won’t [call for a referendum] because ducking this question is seen as part of Labour’s commitment to business. That is a vast hostage to fortune. I would not like to be Ed Miliband explaining why he is not joining other parties in offering the British people a vote on something that is clearly a growing source of public concern.”
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