2 ms·
About 20% of the Tory MPs wanted to leave the EU. So yes, that did play a part in the decision I'm sure. But I doubt that we would have been given a referendum
by mike-cardwell 10y ago
About 20% of the Tory MPs wanted to leave the EU. So yes, that did play a part in the decision I'm sure. But I doubt that we would have been given a referendum without the increase in public support for UKIP. The Tory party was under threat because of the gains UKIP was making.
- dragonwriter 10y ago> About 20% of the Tory MPs wanted to leave the EU Sure, but the split I was talking about is in the party-in-the-electorate, not the party-in-government. It wasn't a technique to maintain party unity in the Parliament, but to avoid losing party of the electoral base for the 2015 general election. > But I doubt that we would have been given a referendum without the increase in public support for UKIP. Sure, but that wasn't the public demanding an isolated referendum on the issue; the referendum was just a Tory tactic for minimizing the controversy over EU policy as a general election issue for the set of voters that, their view on that issue aside, were generally aligned with the Tories.