It is disappointing that the Prime Minister will not push for a referendum now, nor will he even begin the process of negotiations in this Parliament.
David Cameron’s strategy, seeking to hijack discussions on a future EU treaty, failed in December 2011 when he sought the return of the national veto on financial services regulation and will not succeed again. Only exiting the EU can deliver meaningful change.
Unfortunately the Prime Minister’s speech was laden with pro-EU rhetoric. David Cameron should recognise that membership of the Single Market hurts the British economy because it leads to excessive interference from Brussels. Furthermore, membership of the EU and its Single Market is not a prerequisite for trade with businesses and consumers on the continent.
The economic costs of remaining in the Single Market are numbered in the tens of billions per year. Jacques Delors mentioned recently that free trade is an option for Britain which would be better than remaining in such a highly regulated market.
Britain has a public sector borrowing requirement which is running at £100 billion per year. Whilst David Cameron is hoping to make small inroads into it he has chosen to ignore the elephant in the room (the Single Market) which is costing Britain £75 billion per annum.
David Cameron keeps promising that there will be change in the EU -
It's like a cheque in the post that takes ages to arrive and when you eventually receive it you find that it's post-dated. It is no good until you can cash it in and receive the funds and until you do receive them you doubt it's validity.
Saying No to the Single Market