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Originally Posted by tw
So these guys hype 'let's get out of the EU'. When push comes to shove, do they really mean it? Or is this classic rhetoric that politicians use to inspired their followers - and that they do not really want or believe? What do you think? Are they really serious?
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Some of them are - the Conservative Party is divided on the issue - some of them want out, others want to stay in but with renegotiated terms. Most of the serious leading figures in the party want to stay in, but there's a lot of pressure for them to promise an 'in/out' referendum.
It's a funny issue Europe - most of the main parties are divided on it, but for different reasons (the right of the Tories want out for reasons of national soveriegnty, whilst the left of Labour wants out because the dream of Europe has turned into a wet dream for business and we've basically already opted out of the worker protection aspects of Europe). One of the big issues is immigration and the free movement of citizens within Europe - so, when the new states joined their people suddenly had the right to move freely and work in any ocuntry in Europe etc - this led to an influx of people from Eastern Europe coming to the UK and that's upset a lot of people.
The right to control our own borders is a big issue for the anti-Europe side.
Whether they're serious? Don't know really. Some of them very much are - this has been a divisive issue within the Conservatives in particular, for decades. It was their internal divisions over Europe that pretty much killed them in '97.
For many of them though it is a rallying call - for someone like Cameron it is an albatross - on the one hand the needs of business and the economy clearly warrant a relationship with Europe - but he has to play a eurosceptic note if he wants to keep his troops onside.
The right wing fringe parties (like UKIP) have made much of the Conservatives' unwillingness to 'stand up for Britain' and free us from the European project - as they're the party most likely to draw away Tory support, there's a lot of pressure for the Conservatives to take a harder stance.
I've over simplified the issue - it's divisive and you'll find anti-european union attitudes amongst the left and right, for different reasons - and the fringe parties, on both left and right, often take a much harsher stance. With the main parties so close together (no one party won enough seats to form a credible government alone) those fringe parties are more of a threat to them than ever before. There is always a tug of war within parties and between parties over this issue.