[Reedus]

David Cameron says he will consider a referendum on Britain's future relationship with Europe, but only when the time is right.

It is vital for our country — for the strength of our economy, for the health of our democracy and for the influence of our nation — that we get our relationship with Europe right.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/poli...r-Britain.html

This is the latest discussion on our EU membership please discuss your views on both the article and the matter as a whole.

[billydisco]

Looks like the tories just won the next election.....

Lets have a proper tory party for once!

[FDR]

I don't think there should be an EU referendum; I just don't feel people are informed enough to make the right decision, whatever that may be, and thus such a huge decision should not rest solely on the result of a plebiscite.

Why don't we have a yes/no referendum on whether we should pay any taxes? or whether we should get free public transport? or on whether fuel should be heavily subsidised?

[MrNedRewMan]

I believe we should have a referendum, as it would give the people of Britain a chance to be informed and make a decision about our position about the EU rather than being kept in the dark about the billions of pounds given to the dictators over in brussels. However as you can probably tell I'm pretty biast towards this referendum; in truth I dought we would choose to leave if we are given the option.


Ned

[tc92]

Whilst I believe there should be a referendum, Cameron is quite clearly committed to the EU and will say whatever it takes to keep people onside to win the election. It's hard to trust any of them these days.

[chrisawhitmore]

When the time is right. About 1993 by my count, when it ceased to be a free trade area and became a political union.

Cameron won't commit to a referendum and even if Milliband did, I imagine that pledge would be worth just as much as his party's 2005 manifesto commitment to a referendum.

Unless they set a date, I'll be voting UKIP.

[Bill_Gates]

He seems to be appealing heavily to the daily mail reader. Who cant make a correct judgement about the politicial or economic benefits we get from the e.u.

[miser]

If we gave the decision over the EU to one person, we would expect them to be very knowledgeable and educated in politics, economics, etc., in order that we should trust them to make the right decision. The average member of the public is not very knowledgeable and educated in politics, economics, etc., and so giving the decision over to a numbers game where anyone with an opinion has an equal say is asking for trouble. You'll get millions of votes decided by whoever writes the papers.

[DarkWhite]

****s sake. I'm sick of politicians saying, "Let's be clear." I sat through an hour of David Willetts starting every question response with it on Monday. It's made only worse when they're so far from clear they don't answer the bloody question.

In this case, Cameron has said he will "consider" a referendum "when the time is right". Neither of which explicitly set out his plan of action.

/rant

A bit more on-topic. I'm not entirely sure how much time the average person is likely to spend going out and reading up on the real pros and cons of the EU past what they hear through word of mouth. I'm not saying let's not have a referendum, but it needs to be massively publicised and some brilliant campaigning needs to come out to lay the issues before us all.

Not that anybody can really quantify a lot of our relationship with the EU compared to the hypothetical situation we ceased to be a member.

[f1mad]

(Original post by FDR)
I don't think there should be an EU referendum; I just don't feel people are informed enough to make the right decision, whatever that may be, and thus such a huge decision should not rest solely on the result of a plebiscite.

This.

[gagaslilmonsteruk]

I believe we should stick with the EU. There's more negatives than positives about leaving.

[Norton1]

(Original post by FDR)
I don't think there should be an EU referendum; I just don't feel people are informed enough to make the right decision, whatever that may be, and thus such a huge decision should not rest solely on the result of a plebiscite.

Why don't we have a yes/no referendum on whether we should pay any taxes? or whether we should get free public transport? or on whether fuel should be heavily subsidised?

It's amazing how politicians will argue quite seriously that the mob are sage and sensible enough to select them to work on their behalf, but too stupid and lumpen to be let loose on an issue that many of them feel extremely strongly about.

As regards your examples, I offer this slightly tongue in cheek list:

Countries with subsidised gasoline

Iran
Nigeria
Indonesia
Malaysia
Mexico

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasolin...dised_gasoline

Countries with at least some free public transport

Scotland (pensioners bus pass)
France
Germany
Czech Republic
Other European countries
United States

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_public_transport

It is also possible to pick out a number of countries with possible 0% rates of income and/or corporation tax. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...s_by_tax_rates)

I suppose the conclusion to be drawn - for the subsidised fuel and free public transport at least - is that it's a matter of personal taste. It's a little like the free school dinners for all debate; there's undoubtedly money to do it but should we spend it on that?

[Spaz Man]

He really should have a clear and stern line on this. As we saw back in December when he excercised the UK's veto and his popularity bumped up, standing up to the EU is pretty popular to the electorate.

[internetguru]

(Original post by FDR)
I don't think there should be an EU referendum; I just don't feel people are informed enough to make the right decision, whatever that may be, and thus such a huge decision should not rest solely on the result of a plebiscite.

Why don't we have a yes/no referendum on whether we should pay any taxes? or whether we should get free public transport? or on whether fuel should be heavily subsidised?

That is the same excuse which is always used do you know the solution? To god damn inform people about it not prevent direct democracy.

[Morgsie]

IN or Out if there is one.

I would vote for continued membership

[meenu89]

I don't trust any of the main parties to give us a referendum on the EU.

[Herr]

The probability of 8% economic growth is far higher than an in/out referendum in UK.

I don't particularly believe that a referendum would be held under that so called Referendum Lock that Cameron goes on about, end of the day all powers that could be given away had already been given away by that treacherous bastard called Gordon Brown through the last Lisbon Treaty that Britain is now subject to when in reality that should have been a referendum.

Anyway as a trading nation and vast majority of UK trades are with the EU it makes sense to be a full member so you could have a say when it comes to making the rules, end of the day even if you follow Norway or Switzerland's model with regard to relationship with EU you still will need to implement at bare minimum 70% of all EU sourced laws including that of free movement of labour.

[Aj12]

TSR has such a pathetic elitist view of the electorate at large. If we are just going to write off whole issues that are important to the fate of the country as being too important for the people to vote on as they are too stupid we might as well just turn ourselves into a dictatorship. Why bother voting for those that run the country? Clearly people are too stupid to decide.

[Yoko Ono]

(Original post by FDR)
I don't think there should be an EU referendum; I just don't feel people are informed enough to make the right decision, whatever that may be, and thus such a huge decision should not rest solely on the result of a plebiscite.

Why don't we have a yes/no referendum on whether we should pay any taxes? or whether we should get free public transport? or on whether fuel should be heavily subsidised?

The reason we don't have referendums on whether to pay taxes is because there isn't a groundswell of discontent over them, whereas there is with the EU. We should have a referendum, and the yes and no campaigns should be responsible for educating the public about the EU and helping them to make an informed choice.

[ukip72]

(Original post by chrisawhitmore)
When the time is right. About 1993 by my count, when it ceased to be a free trade area and became a political union.

Cameron won't commit to a referendum and even if Milliband did, I imagine that pledge would be worth just as much as his party's 2005 manifesto commitment to a referendum.

Unless they set a date, I'll be voting UKIP.

Exactly