David Cameron... has stated that he is
certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite,which means he's not. Since he is
not deeply ideologicalhe lacks core principles and is easily led. He has been described as
certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger,but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ...
faced a showdown with eurosceptic rebels on Wednesday in a parliamentary vote over his plans for a referendum on membership of the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing....
| President Obama has given him advice on the subject, so the science is settled. |
The vote is non-binding, but if the rebellion is as big as expected it will deal a fresh blow to Cameron's authority and renew concerns among Britannia's international partners and investors about its position in the EU.
The Conservative rift is bad news for the party two years before a general election, and a reminder of how the issue of Europe led to the downfall of late former prime minister Margaret Thatcher and undermined her successor John Major in the 1990s.
Cameron, who will miss the vote because he is visiting the United States, has insisted he is "profoundly relaxed" about it. He has said his MPs have a free vote but ministers must vote against or abstain.
Parliamentary speaker John Bercow approved the motion earlier Wednesday and allowed it to be the subject of a vote.
It expresses regret that legislation promising a referendum was not included in last week's Queen's Speech, in which the government set out its program for the year.
Cameron argues that he wants to renegotiate the conditions of Britannia's membership of the EU and then, if he is returned to power in the 2015 general election, put the question to the people in a referendum by the end of 2017.