JohnBM:Liberal

In picking a fight over the Lisbon Treaty and by not backing the call for a referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU, the Tories and UKIP are quite obviously running scared.

The Tory position speaks volumes on their position on the European issue – muddled and frankly opportunist.

There were no referendums on the Maastricht Treaty or the Single European Act but for some reason have chosen to pick a fight over this one. Could it be that this is the only referendum in which the Tories have any form of unanimity?Could it be the only referendum which would see Ken Clarke and David Heathcoat-Amory on the same side?

The UKIP position is even more bizzare. After Nick Clegg’s speech today, the UKIP leader, Nigel Farage said:”Whilst in the long term I agree that this is the referendum we want, calling for it at this time is only to cover up their weasel-like position over a referendum.” This party calls for a referendum on our membership of the EU on an almost daily basis. A large proportion of UKIP members come from the now defunct Referendum Party.

The only reason UKIP and the Tories back a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty is because it’s the only referendum they could even have the smallest chance of winning and embarrassing the government.
If we were to vote on a REAL EU referendum – the swivel eyed xenophobia of UKIP with their euro-myths would be lost in the real world of EU membership which brings massive benefits to the UK.

If we were to vote on a REAL EU referendum – the Tories would just split down the middle and return to the in-fighting of the 1990s.

Nice one Nick for showing the Tories and UKIP for what they really are.

 

Question: You are a news editor.

1. Four days ago the Archbishop of Canterbury makes an academic speech to a room full of lawyers about the theoretical incorporation of some aspects of financial and marital Sharia law into English law.

2. Hundreds of category A prisoners (including Ian Huntley) could have their convictions quashed and be freed because police illegally bug confidential conversations between lawyers and their clients.

Which do you think is the most newsworthy?

Please send your answers to national news editors.

No wonder Gordon is trying extend the news cycle of the Archbishop Sharia story

Hundreds of terrorists, murderers and other dangerous and violent prisoners across the country could have their convictions quashed if claims of police bugging of privileged legal meetings prove to be true.

Senior police officers are alleged to have routinely ordered the bugging of category A prisoner’s meetings with lawyers and other visitors in prisons across the country.

The mere recording of a legally privileged conversation could be enough to render any conviction unsafe. Hundreds of prisoners may have to be retried by the courts. Meaning hundreds of victims and families could have old wounds reopened, witnesses having to face aggressive cross-examination again and legal costs running into tens of millions of pounds.

Chris Huhne is absolutely right to order a full inquiry into what could be a fundamental and rudimentary failure of police intelligence (in more ways than one), a failure with far reaching operational and political consequences.