Cameron’s gamble: Britain ‘isolated’ in Europe, or independent?

Stunning news from Brussels. The shock on BBC presenters faces says it all – Cameron actually did what he told us he was going to do. And a nation reels. But there are two questions…

The first is, is Cameron playing straight? Wresting powers from Brussels is like fighting fog while wading through treacle – and it’s not just Brussels remember; half the core restrictions on any British parliament come from obligations under the Council of Europe, the EU fills in other gaps. Even if the EU now withers, in the shadow of EU 2.0, we’re not home yet. And of course, the guy could be scamming us… There’s no doubt this will strengthen Dave’s position in his own party – and will hit UKIP’s vote hard. If Call Me Dave called an election now – as Clegg’s quislings may force – the Tories would do very well indeed. So we *could* be seeing short term political maneuvering with the intention of putting a reversal in later.

The second question – more important and easier to judge – is will EU 2.0 save the Euro? If it doesn’t, then it is the Franco-German actions that will have fucked not only the Euro, but the EU too. Cameron’s judgement will appear solid,and Britain’s exit from the spiralling EU will seem assured. And I don’t think the Euro can be saved. The level of political integration needed to credibly impose this currency across EU 2.0 is not democratically viable – when German accountants throw out Spanish or Swedish budgets, this thing will fall.

When it does, we can watch, and enjoy.

Very early days, but this looks like the first step on a long march, in the right direction.