Ken Clarke and Lord Mandelson attack 'silly' EU debate
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-30568009
Ken Clarke and Lord Mandelson attack 'silly' EU debate
Quote:
Originally Posted by BBC (state) News
Pro-Europeans have got to "organise themselves properly" to defeat the "silly" arguments for leaving the EU, former Conservative Chancellor Ken Clarke has said.
Mr Clarke told the BBC there was a "real risk" of a UK exit from the EU.
Prime Minister David Cameron wants to change the terms of the UK's EU membership before an in/out referendum by 2017 if he wins the next election.
Labour says a referendum would present an unnecessary risk to the economy.
With some recent polls indicating support for leaving the EU, Mr Clarke - who left the government in July's reshuffle - said the political debate over the past six months had been "disastrous".
"We would diminish this country if we had a silly debate about Europe," he told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show.
'Hysterical'
Last month Mr Cameron said he would "rule nothing out" if other EU leaders would not agree to his proposed curbs on migrants' welfare payments.
Under his plans, migrants would have to wait four years for certain benefits.
The prime minister is under pressure to find a way to reduce the scale of migration from inside the European Union.
Ministers say the number of arrivals from the EU has "blown off course" their target to cut net migration to the tens of thousands by the general election.
The UK Independence Party, to which two Conservative MPs have defected this year, says the only way to control immigration is to quit the EU.
Great to see these two getting together in support of the EU, can't wait to hear their arguments similar to the ones they gave back around 2000 when the pair of them sat there warning that if we didn't join the Euro our economy would collapse. Both have to be among two of the most dislikable politicians in the history of their respective parties which is why i'm so happy to see them be the public face of the pro-EU argument.
Both feature in the video below, well worth a watch if you haven't seen before. A shower of liars and idiots.
Thoughts?
