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| David Cameron's dogged work won tussle in Brussels – now he faces fight at home | David Cameron's dogged work won tussle in Brussels – now he faces fight at home |
| (7 months later) | |
| If nothing else, the deal struck by David Cameron in Brussels late on Friday represents a triumph of stamina. Embattled and at times encircled, the prime minister declared that he was willing to stay until Sunday to secure the renegotiation of Britain’s EU membership terms. Back in Westminster, Eurosceptics demanded that the lion of Britannia roar. But this was the performance of an indefatigable terrier, whose jaws could not be prised from the European leg. | If nothing else, the deal struck by David Cameron in Brussels late on Friday represents a triumph of stamina. Embattled and at times encircled, the prime minister declared that he was willing to stay until Sunday to secure the renegotiation of Britain’s EU membership terms. Back in Westminster, Eurosceptics demanded that the lion of Britannia roar. But this was the performance of an indefatigable terrier, whose jaws could not be prised from the European leg. |
| That said, there have been few more dramatic or stormy days in Cameron’s six years as PM. At times, it looked as though he might come home empty-handed – a humiliation that might have set in train a calamitous slide towards Brexit and his own political fall. But at 9.30pm Donald Tusk, the European council president, tweeted that a deal had been struck. | That said, there have been few more dramatic or stormy days in Cameron’s six years as PM. At times, it looked as though he might come home empty-handed – a humiliation that might have set in train a calamitous slide towards Brexit and his own political fall. But at 9.30pm Donald Tusk, the European council president, tweeted that a deal had been struck. |
| Deal. Unanimous support for new settlement for #UKinEU | Deal. Unanimous support for new settlement for #UKinEU |
| At that moment, the final obstacle to a referendum on 23 June was removed. | At that moment, the final obstacle to a referendum on 23 June was removed. |
| The British delegation had not been fully prepared for the degree and breadth of opposition to Tusk’s original proposals, published on 2 February. François Hollande fought what he regarded as special pleading for the City. The eastern European nations balked at the “emergency brake” on benefits to EU migrants. But – in the end – the other guy blinked. Perfidious as Albion may be, the other 27 member states did not want to trigger its departure from the union. | The British delegation had not been fully prepared for the degree and breadth of opposition to Tusk’s original proposals, published on 2 February. François Hollande fought what he regarded as special pleading for the City. The eastern European nations balked at the “emergency brake” on benefits to EU migrants. But – in the end – the other guy blinked. Perfidious as Albion may be, the other 27 member states did not want to trigger its departure from the union. |
| As Westminster waited for the white smoke from Brussels, all the familiar arguments were being rehearsed on rolling news channels. Owen Paterson, a former cabinet minister, and Nigel Farage led the carnival of scorn. But their complaints reflected a failure of logic. If the concessions that Cameron sought were so feeble, why were they being opposed so ferociously by competitor states? | As Westminster waited for the white smoke from Brussels, all the familiar arguments were being rehearsed on rolling news channels. Owen Paterson, a former cabinet minister, and Nigel Farage led the carnival of scorn. But their complaints reflected a failure of logic. If the concessions that Cameron sought were so feeble, why were they being opposed so ferociously by competitor states? |
| True, the PM did not get everything he asked for. He wanted the emergency brake to apply for 13 years and had to settle for seven. But it is not so long since his political foes at home claimed that the brake would never survive the scrutiny of a summit. The UK will be exempted (“permanently”) from “ever closer union” and, by treaty change, formally excused from EU integration. | True, the PM did not get everything he asked for. He wanted the emergency brake to apply for 13 years and had to settle for seven. But it is not so long since his political foes at home claimed that the brake would never survive the scrutiny of a summit. The UK will be exempted (“permanently”) from “ever closer union” and, by treaty change, formally excused from EU integration. |
| The low point of the day for Cameron was the disclosure that Michael Gove, his trusted political lieutenant and close friend, will campaign for Brexit. That news probably hurt the exhausted PM more than it surprised him: the justice secretary had made no secret of his dilemma, the clash between loyalty and conviction. Be in no doubt: the leavers’ recruitment of Gove, a man of intellect and integrity, is a fillip to their cause. Other will follow his lead, as Michael Heseltine followed Geoffrey Howe in 1990. | The low point of the day for Cameron was the disclosure that Michael Gove, his trusted political lieutenant and close friend, will campaign for Brexit. That news probably hurt the exhausted PM more than it surprised him: the justice secretary had made no secret of his dilemma, the clash between loyalty and conviction. Be in no doubt: the leavers’ recruitment of Gove, a man of intellect and integrity, is a fillip to their cause. Other will follow his lead, as Michael Heseltine followed Geoffrey Howe in 1990. |
| On Saturday the PM will present the deal at the postponed cabinet meeting. This gathering will be, as one of his allies put it to me, “no excuses time”. Every cabinet member, without exception, will have to declare his or her hand and end the months of personal speculation. Boris Johnson will have to do the same, shimmying down from the fence with as much grace as he can muster. | On Saturday the PM will present the deal at the postponed cabinet meeting. This gathering will be, as one of his allies put it to me, “no excuses time”. Every cabinet member, without exception, will have to declare his or her hand and end the months of personal speculation. Boris Johnson will have to do the same, shimmying down from the fence with as much grace as he can muster. |
| This, of course, is only the beginning of the PM’s bid to persuade the public to endorse continued membership, “the best of both worlds” as he put it on Friday night. The political nation will divide sharply and perhaps bitterly as the campaign takes shape and the contours of battle emerge. No issue enrages and maddens the Conservative party so reliably. But Cameron has already proved himself a formidable negotiator and a politician unwilling to be remembered as loser. For now, at least, the initiative is his. | This, of course, is only the beginning of the PM’s bid to persuade the public to endorse continued membership, “the best of both worlds” as he put it on Friday night. The political nation will divide sharply and perhaps bitterly as the campaign takes shape and the contours of battle emerge. No issue enrages and maddens the Conservative party so reliably. But Cameron has already proved himself a formidable negotiator and a politician unwilling to be remembered as loser. For now, at least, the initiative is his. |