[Omah]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22500121

Education Secretary Michael Gove would vote for Britain to leave the EU if there was a referendum today, he has said.

Mr Gove is the most senior Conservative to date to publicly contemplate backing Britain's exit from the EU, although "friends" of the cabinet minister have previously told a newspaper that is where he stands.

"I am not happy with our position in the European Union but my preference is for a change in Britain's relationship with the European Union," said Mr Gove.

"Life outside would be perfectly tolerable, we could contemplate it, there would be certain advantages."

A current middleweight makes a jab .....

[arista]

Originally Posted by Omah

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22500121



A current middleweight makes a jab .....

Thats all mixed up Spin.
Not what he said
I watched it UnCut.

[Omah]

Originally Posted by arista

Thats all mixed up Spin.
Not what he said
I watched it UnCut.

Your extract and source .....

[arista]

He is the same as Boris
saying he would want to leave if they changed the Rules in Europe.

[Omah]

Originally Posted by arista

He is the same as Boris
saying he would want to leave if they changed the Rules in Europe.

Surely he wants to leave because they won't :

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22500121

For years, Mr Gove has been a strident critic of the European Union - and the UK's current relationship with it.

But his remarks are indicative of a broader trend. The centre of gravity within the Conservative Party at Westminster on the issue of Europe has shifted from where it was 20 years ago.

The Sunday Telegraph's headline today "Tories in Europe turmoil" could very easily have appeared in countless editions of the paper over the past two decades.

But being openly Eurosceptic, and willing to consider withdrawal from the EU if negotiations with Brussels are deemed insufficient, is now a mainstream view among Conservative MPs.

[Omah]

BREAKING NEWSefence Secretary Philip Hammond tells BBC he would vote against remaining in the EU if a referendum were held now

[arista]

PM David Cameron is on Important trip to America

There is no Split
just a load of angry & scared back benchers
who think UKIP will take there seats

[joeysteele]

One thing is for sure and that is UKIP and Nigel Farage seem to have the Conservatives in a spin on this EU issue now.

I still think the voters are not likely to believe David Cameron as to a referendum and so will likely stick with UKIP.
There is too much still vague as to this referendum form the Conservatives, Cameron is near tying himself up in knots here and at this rate most voters will be sick of the Conservatives going on about it.

I myself would not trust David Cameron to deliver a referendum, if he even did by a miracle get an overall majority in 2015, it would for sure be a small one, with many in his party not wanting to leave Europe at all,if a referendum looked like being lost,then all I can see is David Cameron saying he hasn't the arithmetic of votes to get the referendum held after all.

It would seem now even his own party who are against the EU don't believe him either,hence their wanting to get a guarantee almost, before the next election as to him holding one after that.

Those who are anti EU to the point of really wanting to come out should go with UKIP, at least whether they could influence things or not they would be consistent in pressing for one.
With David Cameron the anti EU voters would just get let down.
Just like the voters who trusted him when he said no full reform of the NHS would be done,then he did it.

What he says he will do he doesn't, what he says he won't do,he does.
Not a man to be trusted for me and especially not with the EU issue,in fact for me not to be trusted with very much now at all.

UKIP sure have him rattled though.

[arista]

"One thing is for sure and that is UKIP and Nigel Farage seem to have the Conservatives in a spin on this EU issue now."

Of course.

Farage is liked
he sits in a Pub and smokes.

Clegg smokes in Secret

[Omah]

Originally Posted by arista

Thats all mixed up Spin.
Not what he said
I watched it UnCut.

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond has become the second cabinet minister to say he would vote for Britain to leave the EU if a referendum was held now.

"If the choice is between a European Union written exactly as it is today and not being a part of that then I have to say that I'm on the side of the argument that Michael Gove has put forward," said Mr Hammond in an interview to be broadcast at 19:00 BST.

Earlier, Mr Gove became the most senior Conservative to date to publicly contemplate backing Britain's exit from the EU.

Presumably, Hammond will not be saying what he is going to say, either .....

[Omah]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22483478

Veteran TV presenter Des Lynam is the latest celebrity to publicly back the UK Independence Party.

Lynam, famed for his unruffled style on camera, said he voted for the Eurosceptic party in last week's local elections.

He has also rewritten the lyrics of Stephen Sondheim's Send in the Clowns in a tongue-in-cheek retort to Ken Clarke's description of UKIP members.

UKIP averaged 25% of the vote and won more than 140 seats in the polls.

"I was delighted to cast my vote for [UKIP leader] Nigel Farage's team in Sussex, where I live," said Lynam.

"I feel they have something to offer the country as a whole, and Sussex."

Mr Farage said: "I am delighted to welcome Des's support in these elections."

He promised that his party would sing Mr Lynam's humorous version of Send in the Clowns at its South East conference on 8 June.

The opening lines of Lynam's lyrics read: "We used to be rich,/ Now we are not,/ But here at last there's a chance,/ To stop the rot,/ Send in the clowns."

What's good enough for Des .....

[Omah]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22559041

Former Defence Secretary Liam Fox has said the Conservatives "don't need to panic about UKIP" and should try to avoid "internal strife" on Europe.

Mr Fox told Parliament's House magazine the debate should focus on what sort of "looser relationship" they want.

Mr Fox, who describes himself as "an unreconstructed, free market, Thatcherite, Unionist Eurosceptic Atlanticist", said the Conservatives could win outright victory at the 2015 general election - and Europe would be one of the big dividing lines between the parties.

He added: "We don't need to panic about UKIP and I think that we have a sophisticated electorate in this country who are more than capable in using their votes differently in local elections, European elections and general elections and the era when people would vote for the same party in every kind of election with blind loyalty is behind us.

"I know plenty of Conservatives who would vote UKIP in a European election but never dream of voting anything than Conservative in a general election because the cost in a general election they perceive as being much greater if they get it wrong."

Don't panic, Captain Cameron .....

[Omah]

A UKIP donor who said unmarried mothers should be "given a good smack" has said he will give no more money to the party because of the controversy about his views.

Demetri Marchessini, who has made two donations totalling £10,000 to the party, wrote a book arguing women who wear trousers are demonstrating "hostile behaviour".

He told the BBC he stood by his views.

"All my thoughts are traditional thoughts," he said.

"Thoughts that not millions but billions of people have believed."

On his blog, Mr Marchessini dismisses the majority of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church as "old fashioned homosexuality" and suggests there is no such thing as date rape.

Mr Marchessini said he had met UKIP leader Nigel Farage on two occasions but would make no more donations.

He said: "There's been such a fuss about what I've given it's a bore."

'No strings attached'

He said his views were nothing to do with UKIP and were expressed before he became involved with the party.

He was a UKIP supporter, he said, because he wanted the UK to withdraw from the European Union.

"Those are not UKIP thoughts," he said. "They are my thoughts."

In a letter to the Daily Telegraph, which first highlighted his blog posts, he gives a further defence of his views.

He writes: "You also mention that I consider unwed mothers as 'naughty girls'. Of course I do - have they not been so considered since time immemorial? Furthermore, today they are much more naughty than in the past."

A UKIP spokesman said the party's donors did not dictate its policy.

He added: "We neither share nor condone these views. He can donate to whoever he wishes to donate to. Those donations do not come with strings attached."

Good riddance .....