The Daily Mail reports that, ‘millions of pounds in child benefit paid to families living outside the UK will be axed under David Cameron’s plan to claw back powers from Brussels.
Cameron has insisted that it was wrong that the British taxpayer is giving cash to 40,000 children who live elsewhere in the European Union, and went on to reveal that stopping migrant workers in the UK from claiming child benefit for their offspring back home would be a ‘key demand’ of his plans to renegotiate a fresh deal with the EU before staging an in-out referendum by 2017.
This of course underlines the vacuous nature of the supposed renegotiation. The whole thing is a complete sham. If the detail above is a key demand, we can see that the essential issue of ‘Who should run Britain?‘ will remain a no-go area. There is to be no change, the UK will remain firmly under the control of Brussels and parliament will remain a hollow, rubber stamping shell of its former self.
The separation of the political from the economic is the only way to ensure people see the real issue that has to be addressed – yet which the political class is determined to keep off the table.
There are various economic settlements that can be negotiated to mutual EU-British benefit to ensure concerns about access to the single market are mitigated in the event of a Brexit, but political control of the UK is a binary condition… either the British have self determination, or we are ruled by a foreign entity. That is the only issue and we must not allow it to be kept off limits by focus being diverted to trivial sideshows such as Cameron’s pledge today.
Autonomous Mind 
Once again our leader is going to address a high priority issue while missing the absolute, self determination, which is neither desired or wanted by any mainstream administration. Minimums for placation is the order of the day, I would guess ably assisted by the collective. Whatever the outcome we’ll fall for it, the best available outcome considering the present and prevailing circumstances.
Together with which, it’s easy to make promises when it’s a racing certainty that you are not going to be in office to do anything about them.
Mr Cameron cannot deliver even that. He will not get a renegotiation of one item because the other European Nations will not do it. They will not let him put it on the agenda or have a treaty or an Inter Governmental Conference. It will not happen. Mr Cameron must be humiliated at the European Union elections on 22nd May. He deserves on less.
It’s all so frustrating. Can’t we march through the streets?
Who does Mr Cameron think is his audience when he makes these utterances?
Feeling flippant, a couple of answers:
John, The mirror!
Small person: Yes we can, but one has to be mindful of the reality 99.99999 r % haven’t recognised, by design, the problem yet. You see it, I see it. most don’t.
John,
The dwindling ranks of the party faithful, who’ve shown themselves ever ready to be deceived.
The disturbingly large proportion of people in surveys who say they would be in favour of staying in the EU provided it were reformed. The surveys never seem to go into the extent of the reform required or whether reform is in any way considered a practical proposition.
I reckon that by paying lip-service to the concerns of many people he has ‘put it out there’ and that’s good as it will be discussed. But that’s the easy part for him and he knows he won’t have to act on it at all and can blame all the bureaucratic mechanisms in place for having his hands tied. cosmic – the surveys never go into the extent of the reform required deliberately because they don’t want to give people a real chance to express themselves on specific issues to do with Europe.
I’ve decided to do my own march! It will be on Saturday 8th Feb and start at 1pm at Kennington Park.
Believe nothing they say, can’t go far wrong.