Responding to the EU referendum announcement, Lib Dem leader Tim Farron has written to all party members as follows:
When we launched our national campaign last week to keep Britain in Europe, we didn’t know when the Referendum was going to be. Now we do: June 23rd.
That gives us just less than four months to identify millions of pro-Europeans and convince them to vote. We can do it! We are looking for pro-European, outward facing, open and tolerant voters: the people who think that Britain and Europe should work together.
In short, we’re looking for liberals like you and me.
But to do that we need to run an enormous ground campaign. We need to knock on millions of doors, print millions more leaflets and make tens of thousands of phone calls.
A group of donors have offered to match £35,000 of donations to help run our campaign. Help win the referendum by making a donation and these donors will match it, pound for pound. Together we will win the Referendum and ensure Britain remains in Europe.
Our opponents are going to do everything they can to take Britain out of Europe. If they succeed it will be harder for us to tackle climate change, fight terrorism, or become a more prosperous nation.
Britain is better in Europe and Europe is better with Britain in it. We can’t let them win.
* Paul Walter is a Liberal Democrat activist and member of the Liberal Democrat Voice team. He blogs at Liberal Burblings.
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41 Comments
Not trying to be mischievous here – this is a properly considered view from someone who wants us to stay in the EU – but given the Lib Dems’ record in recent elections, referendums, and Europe-themed TV debates, wouldn’t it be better to back off slightly and let Cameron and Corbyn take the lead here?
Record in “Europe-themed TV debates”. If you are referring to the Farage/ Clegg debate Clegg won that by a mile. And 46% of the UKIPpers and the Daily Express correspondent admitted it.
Jeremy Wright 20th Feb ’16 – 1:48pm…………Record in “Europe-themed TV debates”. If you are referring to the Farage/ Clegg debate Clegg won that by a mile. And 46% of the UKIPpers and the Daily Express correspondent admitted it……….
I suppose it depends on which ‘paper’ you read…From the LBC 26/3/2014 First debate…YouGov poll for LBC and The Sun showed that the UKIP leader came out on top of the debate on Britain’s future in Europe. 57% of people polled said Mr Farage came out the winner, compared with 36% saying Mr Clegg.
From The Guardian 3/4/2014…..Nigel Farage triumphed in the second television debate on Europe by a clear-cut 69% to 31%, an instant poll showed, suggesting that a more emotional but often overscripted Nick Clegg failed to convince viewers that Ukip is selling the British people a “dangerous con” and a “fantasy”……
Stuart – Cameron, Corbyn or Farron I’m not sure it really matters, Farage – and many others in the “out” campaign – would wipe the floor with any of them in a public debate. I’m in favour of staying in, but the leadership of the “in” side come across as passionless and boring. I have a feeling this referendum will be won by politicians with big personalities and the “in” team don’t seem to be using any at the moment. I would love to see someone like Gordon Brown or Nicola Sturgen debate for the “in” team or see Boris Johnson – depending which side he’s on – addressing rallies and putting some fun and excitement into the campaign to stay in. At the moment I’d say the “out” campaigners have the majority of public support and their supporters are certainly showing more passion.
To be honest.
I think both the Lib Dems and Labour should back off a little and let Cameron take the lead. It’s not just a matter of what happened in the EU debates. It’s also what happened in Scotland. David Cameron has a marked tendency to sit in the background to protect David Cameron above all other concerns. He did not want to be the prime minister who broke up the UK, but he also did not want to do the hard work. He is the Prime Minister. He picked this issue to quell discontent within his party. He has made a big stand on the importance of his negotiations and he should thus take centre stage or as Margret Thatcher would say is he frit.?
As much as it hurts me to think it, the Liberal Democrats’ support is likely to hurt rather than help the ‘In’ side.
Britain will remain in Europe regardless of the referendum. However, we may vote to leave the European Union.
So you can be pro Europe whilst voting to leave the European Union. Similarly we don’t have to be one of the United States states to be pro the USA.
I’ve slowly changed from being an EU supporter to an out supporter. I will vote to leave.
Farron says that the EU is good for our economy, OK it probably is, but that doesn’t mean it is best for most people.
My complaints about mass migration was with what it did to working class communities putting strains on housing and schools in those areas and driving down wages in certain types of jobs. This complaint has been voiced for years but no mainstream party has shown any desire to address the situation, rather they have seemed more concerned about how good this is for the owners of businesses and landlords.
Well there is no other option left in my mind, with a heavy heart I wil vote to leave. I’m sorry it has come to this, Europe could have been great if it was managed differently. It won’t be managed differently in the future if we vote to stay.
If Lib Dems want to ensure we stay in I would campaign for Stronger In. Vote Lib Dem in elections of course, but the Stronger In campaign seem to have the right messaging. The campaign shouldn’t be about running around trying to find people who are already Pro EU, although it is important to get them to vote, we need to reach the undecides.
I sometimes think that the best PR people and companies from New Labour are now working for Cameron and I’ve seen some very strong messaging already, which copies some stuff from the winning Conservative 2015 campaign. But yes, similarities with Better Together would be worrying.
“Britain will remain in Europe regardless of the referendum. However, we may vote to leave the European Union.” – We can like the geographical continent Europe: the countries/cultures etc., without having to be part of a European Political organisation: the EU.
I agree with the stated opinion of Rsf7.
I live in East Anglia, and feel that the negative effects of mass economic migration have been glossed over by the ‘remain’ side.
Mass immigration won’t continue forever. As prices drop and wages increase in central and eastern Europe people will be encouraged to remain in those countries.
Most European commentators seem to be saying Cameron came out on top in the negotiations – how will it look if we decide to turn our backs on this deal?
#VoteRemain
“Mass immigration won’t continue forever. As prices drop and wages increase in central and eastern Europe people will be encouraged to remain in those countries.” – with the utmost respect, Turkey is supposedly even “poorer” than Romania and who knows what other countries may join in future?
“Most European commentators seem to be saying Cameron came out on top in the negotiations – how will it look if we decide to turn our backs on this deal?” – with the utmost respect we can like the neighbours in our street, without having to pool ownership of our houses with each other.
Signed up with the main StrongerIn campaign. Even though I am a LibDem member, I would not want to participate in our separate campaign.
One more thing: although I don’t share Rsf7’s decision, I am well aware of some facts he mentions and most of the politicians do not want to see. I have visited Boston in Lincolnshire a few times, and it scared me, even though I speak all three main languages of the town: Russian, Lithuanian and Polish, not to mention English still used by some residents). So I understand the reasons for a lot of the Out votes in those parts. If we try to convince them there is no problem, we won’t help the referendum outcome.
@ Philip: “Turkey is supposedly even “poorer” than Romania and who knows what other countries may join in future?”
That is actually not controlled by “unelected bureaucrats from Brussels”. Admission of any new member must be approved by this genuine parliamentary democracy of ours, the Westminster.
@Igor – with the utmost respect, the UK is 1/28 countries voting on this decision and therefore essentially no say, if a majority agree to it? If I am missing some key information please let me know and will stand educated – thank you.
@philip So far as I remember, a new member must be approved by each and every existing member (usually by a parliamentary vote, in some counties by referendum). Please let me know if I’m wrong.
@Igor – with the utmost respect, I will stand educated on that point if incorrect – in any case, the idea that “Mass immigration won’t continue forever. As prices drop and wages increase in central and eastern Europe people will be encouraged to remain in those countries.” as soon as Romania etc. is competing with the UK, etc. economically – how long will that take – 10-25(+) years?
There needs to be unanimous support for new EU member states to join. I’m not a lawyer, but this is how I understand it and a link is below.
http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/policy/steps-towards-joining/index_en.htm
UK GDP per capita isn’t very high and people aren’t going to continue moving en-mass to us, unless something happens such as a war with Russia, but in that case we might need some more solidarity. Let’s not forget that Putin wants us to leave the EU.
“UK GDP per capita isn’t very high and people aren’t going to continue moving en-mass to us” – with respect, maybe not inherently high, however relative to Romania, etc.? “There needs to be unanimous support for new EU member states to join” – I did not check the link and will assume you are probably correct – can we be sure that Labour/Conservatives would block Turkey?
@philip That wasn’t my idea. I’m actually surprised to hear that prices in Eastern Europe are higher than here. Whenever I go to Lithuania or Poland or Latvia – or even to Spain – I invariably feel rich, being able to buy more of anything (particularly, alcohol, cigarettes, or restaurant meals, but not only that). Where the UK shines is that it has jobs (unlike Spain and other Southern European countries) which pay more than they do in Eastern Europe, sometimes much more. The in-work benefits indeed make the minimum wage jobs much more attractive – so I understand why Mr Cameron aimed at these. This differential will remain significant for decades, and with some particularly advanced countries (like Romania with its pervasive corruption), possibly, forever.
That being said, I doubt that those kinds of jobs will go to British workers. More likely, quite a few of them will be manned by illegal immigrants (as they were before 2004), and/or the 50ies and 60ies will be revisited to some extent. May I remind you that the EU had absolutely nothing to have with that?
@Igor – with the utmost respect, I slightly lost the train of your comment – “May I remind you that the EU had absolutely nothing to have with that?” – if I am understanding correctly, you are saying that the EU has no control over who takes British jobs (I have not properly researched yet and heard about enforced EU-wide job adverts, etc.)? Surely a properly sovereign UK out of the EU could decide who comes into its borders or not far more than the current “uncontrolled” situation?
@Eddie Sammon: The UK GDP per capita may not look that impressive, but this is quite a comfortable country to live and work in. Even many Americans would be better off here (those on minimal wage and no employer-provided health insurance).
And I do agree with you about Putin. The man and his regime are dangerous, and he certainly would like the EU to go away. That’s one of the factors for me.
@Philip: I referred to the almost half century before 2004, which did see some immigration.
With respect, what do those in the Lib Dems voting out of the EU think about the cross-party: http://www.grassrootsout.co.uk ?
“I referred to the almost half century before 2004, which did see some immigration.” – with respect, with the new planned living wage and current “open-door” to the UK for approximately 1/2 billion from the EU, the situation would probably at least be somewhat different if the UK was out and had control of its borders to some extent again?
Yes, Plilip, getting out of the EU is the only thing that’s going to stop Swedes and Danes from coming to enjoy our lavish future living wage!
“getting out of the EU is the only thing that’s going to stop Swedes and Danes” – with the utmost respect, I never mentioned any of these countries – I did mention “Romania” – perhaps “Bulgaria” could be said as well and have heard Turkey being mooted as a new entrant and heard that is even poorer than Romania.
Did the uk ever really want Eastern Europe in the EU? I doubt the general population did but the political class (who as I said before couldn’t care less about working people) did so expansion into Eastern Europe with no controls in place is what we got.
In Ireland where the constitution requires a referendum before the country agrees to a new member state people voted against expansion into Eastern Europe. But that didn’t stop it either, the Irish people were just informed that they had made the wrong decision and were told that they would have to vote again until they got the right answer.
I see no reason why the something could not happen with Turkey in the future.
Anybody thought about the political situation if we leave? UKIP would no longer be required – we might stand a chance in by elections. When it all goes pear shaped the Tories would have a huge civil war and we would certainly benefit. No European elections – good news for us. We did the right thing in going into coalition and then our principled stand left us stuffed. I am a European but will be voting for us to leave because I think politically we will benefit and I know this sounds totally unprincipled but I am fed up of getting stuffed at the ballot box – tough liberalism or what?
@david
With all the mainstream establishment parties saying stay perhaps UKIP could end up as popular as the SNP if the stay inside narrowly win. That would be great, I think the entire political establishment needs to go as none of them care about ordinary working people, that includes the lib dems.
@ Rsf7 – “Did the uk ever really want Eastern Europe in the EU?”
I certainly did.
Iikewise championed Turkey’s entry.
the Clegg/Farage debates were a failure from the Lib Dem point of view and a major mistake in principle. We failed because Clegg did NOTHING to articulate our party’s specifically LIBERAL vision of the EU. This was a grave mistake because THE WHOLE POINT of European parliamentary elections is to decide who helps shape law for the EU as a whole. But we meekly went along with the media conspiracy of silence on the European Parliament when we should have been challenging by talking about what our MEPs had done AS LIBERALS to push the EU in a more LIBERAL direction.
So I disagree with those who say the Lib Dems should take a back seat in the referendum campaign. We should not leave it to Cameron or Corbyn, we should be out there saying why we as LIBERALS want the UK to stay in the EU. This means not having Clegg involved at all. He campaigned in 2014 as a spokesman for the EU establishment: it was like fighting a UK election on a pro-Whitehall platform. I think Tim Farron would do a better job of making the liberal case for the UK’s place in the EU.
@jedibeeftrix
You wanted Eastern Europe in the EU and you also want Turkey to join? Thanks for the honesty.
I only wish the rest of the In side were so honest. If the in campaigners were only honest enough to admit that if they win this then they expect to be “championing” turkey’s entry in the future then an out vote would be a near certainty.
Both sides are always a bit economical with the truth in political campaigns but I think the stay in side are probably the most dishonest about their future intentions should they win this.
@ Rsf7 – “You wanted Eastern Europe in the EU and you also want Turkey to join? Thanks for the honesty. I only wish the rest of the In side were so honest.”
I think you rather mistake my motives.
I believe Eastern Europe deserves something better than what the 20th Century gave them, and if the EU is their wish then why not.
I believe Turkey earned its right to a place in EUrope due to holding the front line of NATO for forty years, if that is their wish now.
However, I am a euroskeptic who rejects political union for Britain, and has grave doubts that political union is workable for [the whole of the rest of] the EU too. From this perspective, the best way to break the spell is to make the EU wider (and thus more diverse), and so prevent it becoming deeper (as differences are magnified).
Aside from believing they should have the right to join, and using this as a wrecking motion for ever-closer-union, I am also content to bring in more individualistic national characters with a less starry-eyed view of A Country Called EUrope.
I would be happy to see the EU border Russia in both europe and asia minor by 2050, and like Churchill I would consider Britain a friend and [sponsor] to the project.
Should a (much) smaller core group aim for full political and economic integration in the same time-frame, well, it is no business of ours to hinder them.
I hope this post is illuminating.
Alex Macfie reckons that :
“THE WHOLE POINT of European parliamentary elections is to decide who helps shape law for the EU as a whole.”
If only that were true. But it’s not. MEP’s have no [zero!], role in the design and presentation of any EU ‘shaping’ legislation whatsoever. The people that actually design and shape the EU legislation, are unelected EU commissioners and bureaucrats, that the voter never voted for, and far more importantly,.. Cannot get rid of ?
So, it is a flawed and spurious argument to say a voter can vote for an MEP,.. if that MEP subsequently has no discernible role in the direction and design of EU legislation. And the result, is that there is NO.. democratic,.. ‘line of sight’, between a voter and what occurs in Brussels. The real fact is that Brussels has become a rampant ‘unelected machine’ grinding out legislation that the voter didn’t ask for, doesn’t want, …and to which the voter has NO democratic off switch?
If I’m wrong,.. Please answer this one direct question,…Where is that off switch for this grinding EU ‘machine’?
And please no,. predictable,…but,.. but,… what about Cameron’s off switch? The subject is the EU and it’s lack of democratic veracity, so please stick with the question I asked not the one you would rather was asked.
Jeremy is bang on a lot of voters will see Clegg and vote OUT. If you did really join the Coalition for the sake of National intrest then go on ‘holiday’ during the campaign for Europe. PLEASE KEEP AWAY.
@Philip There are nowhere near “1/2 billion” Romanians and Bulgarians on this planet. The number is memorable to me from UKIP posters during the 2014 European Parliament campain, which I watched in the East Midlands (was very happy to go back to Scotland after that). If you want to cite it, please bear in mind that it includes Germans, Swedes, Danes, the true soul mates – the Irish, and, probably, even the English themselves.
@Rsf7 I hope you are not taking it that every “inner” secretly desires Turkey in EU? I, for one, don’t want either Turkey or Ukraine (not in this century), and think that admitting Romania and Bulgaria was greatly premature, if at all sensible.
The worst mistake, however, was that of the Labour goverment of 2004 not to impose transitional controls on Eastern Europe when almost every other country did.
@indigo: Absolute rubbish. The European Parliament has power to amend and veto EU legislation. It also has the power to reject and sack European Commissioners. In some ways it is more powerful than the UK Parliament, because of the separation of powers meaning no payroll vote. The inbuilt government majority and the fact that so many MPs depend on government patronage means that the HoC is limited in its ability to hold the government to account.
“There are nowhere near “1/2 billion” Romanians and Bulgarians on this planet” – with the utmost respect, I think you may be rather underestimating my geographical knowledge :-).