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Daniel Knowles

Daniel Knowles is an Assistant Comment Editor at Telegraph.co.uk. He writes about politics and economics and is @dlknowles on Twitter.

David Cameron cannot ignore the argument over Europe any more

By Daniel Knowles Politics Last updated: September 8th, 2011

David Cameron is not about to pick a fight with these two

It's quite annoying for the Government, this European crisis. Not only is it injecting uncertainty into the global economy, and, you know, threatening us with economic meltdown, it also riles up mutiny among Dave's backbenchers. This morning, a group of MPs are presenting a 100,000-strong e-petition demanding a referendum on Europe to Downing Street, while around 90 Tory backbenchers from the 2010 intake are meeting next week to support the demand. As I wrote in the Spectator last month, Labour's Eurosceptics are being given an increasingly free hand, and as James Forsyth notes this morning, there are even plans for a cross-party alliance in favour of reform.

This is deeply unhelpful for Mr Cameron. On Tuesday, Bill Cash had this cutting remark for the PM: "You are actually an enthusiast, are you not, for the notion of keeping Europe together?" All Dave could come up with was that he is a "very practical Eurosceptic", which sounded wholly unconvincing. But it describes the Prime Minister correctly. The Prime Minister has plenty of sympathy with the arguments made by people like Daniel Hannan that Europe is undemocratic and wasteful. And he knows full well how much pointless legislation and frustrating regulation Europe creates – his close adviser Steve Hilton is currently spending most of his time trying to work out how to get around it. But the PM also knows that this is not the moment to start a fight over Europe.

Just consider the diplomacy. Europe's leaders are currently trying to tackle the biggest financial crisis in 80 years. Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy have been fighting for months over who will pay for the endless bailouts needed to stop the entire financial system freezing up. David Cameron and George Osborne are desperate that those negotiations work out well – they are not about to complicate them by making British demands. Then there is the domestic side. The Civil Service is simply not prepared for any big change in the relationship with Europe, and they have allies in the Lib Dems, the only fanatically pro-Europe party in the United Kingdom. Moreover, the last thing the public wants to see is the government scrapping over Europe as their living standards decline. This administration looks chaotic enough to the outside world as it is.

But unfortunately, that won't convince Eurosceptic backbenchers to leave the issue alone. For many, Europe has taken on significance as a test of the power of Parliament. Though they bang the desks loudly at meetings of the 1922 committee, this crop of Tory MPs feel little sympathy for a leadership which failed to win an election against the least popular Prime Minister in history. With little chance of promotion, many Tories prefer to act like they are in opposition, attacking the Government for failing to do largely impossible things. Europe goes to the heart of the concerns of the Right. It prevents the Government tackling immigration, limits the scope for supply side reform and costs a fortune. It is, in short, the perfect issue to rebel over. No wonder Mr Cameron finds it so frustrating. But he needs to give up the pithy remarks and make his case, because this debate is not going to fade away.

Tags: Daniel Hannan, David Cameron, europe, Euroscepticism