UK Guardian: Cameron’s EU referendum pledge is a testament to the power of the British Tea Party

[pampango]

David Cameron is to finally pledge an EU referendum in his speech today on Europe.

This is a huge concession by the prime minister, who has until now strongly resisted the idea of holding a referendum on EU membership. Would this have been achieved without the tremendous rising success of the UK Independence Party, now riding in the polls at above 15 percent? I doubt it. UKIP’s impact on British politics over Europe has been arguably as great as that of the Tea Party in the United States on the debt issue. The Tea Party changed the debate in Washington on the question of government spending and played a key role in reshaping the political makeup of the House of Representatives in 2010.

A referendum in 2017 or 2018 is a long way away, and is premised upon the prospect of an outright Tory victory in 2015, which looks increasingly unlikely.

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/nilegardiner/100198892/camerons-eu-referendum-pledge-is-a-testament-to-the-power-of-ukip/

This is an oped from an apparently conservative columnist at the Guardian. Not surprisingly he thinks the recent rise in the success and influence of the UKIP is a good thing.

Hopefully the rise of the UKIP in the polls will follow the pattern of our tea party which seems now to be on the decline.

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. Just a note - it's in the Telegraph, not the Guardian

and Gardiner is very right wing:

Nile Gardiner is Director of The Heritage Foundation's Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom.

http://www.heritage.org/about/staff/g/nile-gardiner

He seems to hate Europe even more than Thatcher did.