Good news: Business for Sterling is back

[-:Undertaker:-]

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/be...rling-is-back/

Good news: Business for Sterling is back

The warm-up for The Speech, as it is referred to in Downing Street, has been marked by the emergence of various lobby groups who are eager to get into a fight over Britain's membership of the EU. The antis have done impressive work preparing the ground – and the case – for a withdrawal. The Fresh Start group of MPs will publish its wishlist for what should be renegotiated tomorrow. Tory MPs are making plain they don't trust their leader by insisting on legislation this Parliament for a referendum in the next. Cabinet ministers are whispering that, however Dave describes it, his referendum will be a 'de facto' in/out choice.

In reply the great and the good are gathering their forces. Nick Clegg rather exploded on liftoff on the Today progamme but not before claiming a referendum would have a 'chilling effect' on confidence and certainty. Roland Rudd is on manoeuvres with his corporate chums. Foreign governments are being enlisted – the Americans lumbered in last week, the Germans talk of blackmail, other countries are using their diplomats to mutter that inward investment might be at risk. Various grandees from the world of business put their name to a recent letter in the FT that voiced hand-wringing concerns about the risks to Britain if Mr Cameron were unintentionally to lead us to the exit. This, as Jeremy Warner's essential column explains today, is the same bunch who wanted us to stay in the ERM, and who advocated for British entry into the euro.

Mr Cameron, and George Osborne, are convinced that the British electorate stands between two extremes. Voters would rather not leave the EU, but want our relationship to be redrawn. The same goes for business. As Jeremy argues, medium and small companies are particularly aggrieved by the increasing burden EU regulations place on their activities, and are keen supporters of Mr Cameron's ambitions to renegotiate the relationship. Thankfully help is at hand. The clue is in Jeremy's opening sentence: 'Remember Business for Sterling?' The campaign group set up by Rodney (now Lord) Leach and others in 1998 to see off Tony Blair's euro-ambitions became one of the most successful lobby organisations ever constructed. As George Trefgarne argued in this piece of commemorative praise, we owe it a debt of thanks for keeping Britain out of the single currency. And the good news is that the band is being put back together, the old gang is being reconvened. I gather Lord Leach is canvassing his friends with a view to reviving the BfS, albeit with new faces. He has the Treasury's blessing, as the Chancellor is anxious to see an effective campaign mounted making the business case for renegotiation. The BfS alumni include Nick Herbert (now with time on his hands), Neil O'Brien (conveniently now at the Treasury), Dom Cummings (working for Michael Gove and full of fire) and George Eustice to name but a few. Given the tensions in their relations with Mr Cameron, it will be worth watching who rides to his rescue.

I don't know if anybody knows of this group or remembers the campaign, but Business for Sterling was one of the groups (and the biggest business group) which led the charge against the likes of Richard Branson and the CBI a decade ago when they were attempting, along with the Blair government, to take us into the Euro. They were completely wrong then, and they're wrong now.

Referendum or not, Business for Sterling is a massive asset to the 'Out' campaign (or independence campaign as I prefer to call it) as you're going to see the likes of Richard Branson as the frontman and the CBI (which represents corporations) launch a massive drive to keep us within the European Union - claiming wrongly, like they did 10 years ago, that if we come out of the EU then millions of jobs will be lost ..... the exact same tactic they used when trying to take us into the Euro.

Fantastic news in knowing that whatever comes in Cameron's Europe speech on friday, it's not going to be UKIP vs all the vested interests. It is key to point out however that both Government and a relaunched BfS are mistaken in thinking renegotiation is possible without first leaving the EU - it is not. The choice has always been in or out as we'll soon come to learn.

If Cameron thinks however that offering an in/in referendum will relieve the pressure from UKIP, the public and his MPs - he's mistaken.

Thoughts?

[GommeInc]

It's funny you mention "renegotiation is not possible" because quite a few people are unaware that it is illegal to renegotiate EU Treaties without full support of other Member States. They're blanket laws, all countries are either out or in of certain areas (Free Movement etc). The Guardian reported that perhaps it should not just be in or out, but also opt out, when opting out of certain areas of EU law is impossible.

[-:Undertaker:-]

It's funny you mention "renegotiation is not possible" because quite a few people are unaware that it is illegal to renegotiate EU Treaties without full support of other Member States. They're blanket laws, all countries are either out or in of certain areas (Free Movement etc). The Guardian reported that perhaps it should not just be in or out, but also opt out, when opting out of certain areas of EU law is impossible.

Indeed, I know the only way to legally renegotiate is actually to activate Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty which requires a member to indicate it's intentions to leave (to de facto suspend membership) and then negotiate with the European Union.

Mr. Cameron is in quite a pickle, it's going to be like watching somebody get out of the political equivalent of a SAW trap.

[Chippiewill]

I'm skeptical of how well negotiations can even go, I'd be very surprised if the other member states weren't insulted at our attempts to reduce involvement.