In, out, shake it all about

The negativity comes from the pro-integrationists who tell us Britain is too weak to govern ourselves, too small to have free trade without EU sponsorship and so irresponsible and uncaring that we would not have female emancipation, health and safety rules or clean beaches without supervision by the EU.

While these points are a useful reminder of how the out-ists should construct our dialogue, we must recognise that we face a faux debate.  The Government has been told, and Philip Hammond has feigned to be jolly happy with the fact that no treaty changes will be made – probably not at all and certainly not in the timescale Cameron hints at for a referendum.

We will be offered a Wilson style “fundamental renegotiation in which nothing of substance changes, a few Tory Europhiles throw their toys around after which big business, BBC, quangos, press and media will declare what a hero Cameron has been so vote to stay in.  This is the big lie we have to address. I suggest it should be done by listing all the changes we want just a few degrees away from what Cameron can achieve and remind the public as often as possible why those in favour do so well out of the EU, at our expense.

Andrew Smith, Epping, UK.

I read the article by Dan’s Hannan – Nine ways for Eurosceptics to win the EU referendum – once and then re-read it. Apart from the platitudes – optimism etc – it really says little of use. Motherhood and apple pie stuff.

And any article which says at its start, “when it comes to the EU poll, the two sides are starting much closer to level pegging: this poll is eminently winnable” has to be seriously suspect. After all, opinion polls in Britain have just proved as reliable as a politician’s promise.

Michael Walker, Stoke on Trent, UK

Hard Labour

Could the conditions be just right at the moment in Britain for the emergence of a new centre left party to replace or challenge Labour? All opposition parties are weak and Labour seems to be sticking to its left-leaning branch hand in hand with the unions. Wouldn’t centrists in Labour, especially those at or close to the prime of their political career, feel that a generation in opposition in a party that doesn’t reflect their views is not for them? And wouldn’t (orange book) Lib Dems be tempted since their task is akin to starting a new party anyway and they would get away from the tainted reputation the party has achieved? As a centre-right sympathiser I would rather have a sensible (centrist) and strong opposition to keep the government on its toes.

Stephen Gruppetta, London, UK.

Evans above

There is a secret part of me that, when no one else is listening, quietly agrees that Nigel Farage should not be the main player in the “out” campaign. While I think he’s suited to leading UKIP for maybe another 4-5 years, that’s only so the party can consolidate its ideology. As Douglas Carswell  said recently on the BBC’s Daily Politics show, UKIP should be filling the ideological void and pushing a truly libertarian agenda and popular capitalism. Farage’s leadership could do that, but it won’t get Britain out of the European Union.

However, there are two people from UKIP that could be the public faces of the out campaign, and that’s Paul Nuttall and Suzanne Evans. I’d prefer Suzanne Evans to be the forerunner with Paul backing her up. She’s rational and logical in her arguments, deals with difficult questions well and has a polite manner which makes her hard to dislike.

Farage convinced the fringes a long time ago. Nuttall will convince the North to do the exact opposite of whatever London wants, and that leaves those who are only swayed by logical arguments and the Europhiles. There is no reasoning with the Europhiles, but the centre, the persuadable and the logical, I give you Suzanne Evans. Indulge my prediction that, with a properly fought campaign, not only could she prompt Britain’s exit from the EU, but she could also be the next female Prime Minster.

Nathan Brown, Birmingham, UK

CapX editor correct, shock

Iain Martin is right, the Conservative party won the UK election by pulling together. Like many people, I was diverted by the so-called Mods v Rockers debate in the Conservative party, which first appeared in a Times leader about 15 years ago. Sometimes I was an observer, sometimes a participant. In fact, I can claim to have had an early role as a supportive Telegraph journalist at the time, joining meetings in pubs with David Cameron, Michael Gove et al soon after the Labour landslide of 1997. (Incidentally, I imagine some forlorn Labour supporters are even now arranging similar meetings in some cheap hostelry).

The modernisers had an important point, that the Tory party needed to look and sound more like the electorate it hoped to served. But in time they spoiled their case by excessive adoration of Tony Blair and experimenting with ideas such as matching Labour’s spending plans.

In that regard, the Thatcherite Rockers had an important point too.

All the while, David Cameron himself was careful not to throw his lot in entirely with any one Tory faction. He won so demonstrably in 2015 for many reasons, but one of those was that he was essentially a pragmatic, unity candidate, offering a One Nation vision not only to his party but to the country as a whole. This was in contrast to Ed Miliband, who sought to sow division. The Prime Minister’s modernising pedigree may have helped a bit, but nobody can pretend that people like Lynton Crosby or Lord Feldman are modernisers.

Judging by the twitter feeds of Lord Finkelstein, Tim Montgomerie and others, an intellectual battle is still raging among Times columnists, this time for ownership of the victory narrative. How did Cameron do it? Can I politely suggest we move into the post-modernisation phase now and everybody put their rhetorical Brylcreem, crepe-soled shoes, and flick combs back in the cupboard? The watch words now should be generosity, pragmatism and delivery. There is enough for the Tories to be getting on with, without resorting to knocking seven bells out of each other on Brighton seafront. We can leave that to UKIP and Labour.

George Trefgarne, London, UK