In a document, tucked away in the webs archives, entitled 'This Sceptic Isle' ,an article, exploring the possibilities of withdrawal from the EU, by Ruth Lea, Director of the Centre for Policy Studies, reveals a startling coup!
Andrew Cooper, the newly appointed broom of No10 Downing Street and founder and strategic director of Populus the polling company shares his personal views on EU withdrawal.
In discussing the campaign, for withdrawal from the EU, organised by the magazine 'This is England' a question and answer format followed:
Andrew Cooper:
It’s still a minority view but it’s a minority view that has been growing over
recent years according to the polls from probably less than a third of British
voters saying that Britain should pull out … a few years ago … to more than
40% in many polls now. And in our poll in the last European Election, we
found firstly a large majority of people would like there to be a referendum
on the question whether Britain should stay in or not stay in. And …that if
there were a referendum, only just under a half say that they would vote to
pull out, and only just over a half would vote to stay in.
Ruth Lea:
And which voters are keenest to leave?
Andrew Cooper:
Among certain sections of the population there are more people who want to
pull out than who want to stay in. That’s slightly more women want to pull
out than want to stay in, if there were a referendum. Among semi-skilled and
unskilled workers, by quite a wide margin, more want to pull out than to stay
in, and among Conservative voters, by a margin of twelve per cent. Fortyseven
per cent would say that they would vote to pull out; thirty-five per cent
say they would vote to stay in if there were a referendum.
Ruth Lea:
You can hear views like these expressed not only at political meetings but in
pubs, work places and homes all over the country. How often however, are
they heard from the residents of the political village at Westminster?
Andrew Cooper:
The political establishment in Westminster thinks in a sense that it’s sort of
prima facie sign of madness to imply that Britain can pull out of Europe and
go it alone. It’s one of those sort of unchallenged truths of politics. But it’s
clearly the case that the three main parties in this country (the political
mainstream) share a sort of liberal establishment view that Britain must be in
the EU. It’s unthinkable for them to say, it’s unsayable that we might pull
out.
Ruth Lea:
Although of course there are dissidents.
Andrew Cooper:
There’s no doubt there are a lot of Conservative activists, there’s a lot of
Conservative MPs, there are probably quite a lot of Labour MPs, whose
private view is that either that we should pull out or that we will almost
inevitably reach the point when we have to pull out … because of the terms
on which membership will increasingly change. I suppose one could say that
is a suppressed view in the sense that it’s a view that they honestly feel, but
don’t feel that it’s possible to air that thought, because the climate is one in
which it’s unthinkable. It’s almost sort of, it’s de facto proof of, unsoundness
of mind and unfitness for office. It’s not something which in the British
political culture is acceptable to say within the mainstream, which is odd
given that it’s a view which is taken by such a large minority of the voters.
Well? So what? Just another Eurosceptic?
No ! This is a man on a mission. A mission brought about by the lobbying of the British National Party MEP's in Brussels. Connections are vital in Europe and when you have as many friends and connections as the two British National Party MEP's then things happen !
Let's have a video?
Has it dropped yet? The penny I mean? Conservatives Ministers acceding to British National Party Lobbying?
Whats happening in Europe?
Remembrance Sunday 2016
8 years ago
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