Cameron seeks to get out of Euro tangle he didn't need to get in to.

It is a shame that the Conservative conference gets underway this morning under something of a cloud, cast by the Lisbon Treaty. It is the Tories’ chance to set out, in detail, domestic policy which the party hopes will carry it in to government. The agenda focuses on themes which David Cameron would wish to emphasise: reform of a discredited political system, repair of an amoral, debt burdened economy, the broken society and how to mend it, the Union and its maintenance.

In the aftermath of the Republic of Ireland’s treaty referendum, however, the media, and arguably elements of Cameron’s own party, remain preoccupied with Europe.

Although this blog has argued that the Conservative leader’s instincts on the EU are sound, it has also recorded scepticism as regards Cameron’s strategies. The construction of a non-federalist, centre right bloc, intended to challenge the christian democratic continental consensus, was a laudable aim. Conferring a degree of legitimacy upon populist, ethno-nationalist parties in former Warsaw Pact countries is, to my mind, an unacceptable by product of the ECR group.

As regards Lisbon, Cameron has legitimate doubts. He is right to insist that the Treaty does not have the support of the British people and he is right to suppose that it constitutes a further erosion of the UK’s sovereignty. When the treaty is implemented, there will be less accountability, and power will reside even farther from the electorate, than is currently the case. The pertinent question is whether these valid concerns can justify any attempt to withdraw the UK’s assent, supposing each of the member countries has ratified the treaty before the general election?

Hardened Eurosceptics’ answer is ‘yes’. And they are numerous amongst the grassroots of Cameron’s party. More pragmatic voices caution against such action, suggesting that a decision to withdraw Britain’s ratification, based on the result of a referendum, would have baleful consequences for the UK’s membership of the EU. It appears increasingly likely that pragmatism will prevail, as it surely should. Cameron is then likely to face accusations of breaking his inconvenient promise that a Tory government would not let Lisbon ‘rest’.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has recommended a possible compromise, whereby some type of ‘consultation’ with voters could take place, perhaps leading to a Conservative attempt to repatriate certain powers from Brussels. Cameron will be keen to mollify possible Eurosceptic critics within his own party; however a pledge to wrangle with the EU for much of his first term is hardly an ideal means to secure their acquiescence. Tactical truculence in Europe is likely to distract a Tory government from its important domestic tasks and it is sure to damage the UK’s standing within a Union which, the new Conservatives accept, is vital to our interests.

The truth is that Cameron should not have to extricate himself from this EU tangle. It was the current government that ratified the Lisbon Treaty, breaking its promise to consult British voters. It isn’t a problem which the Conservatives can rapidly put right and the party need not pretend that it can. There are an almost infinite set of challenges which will present themselves to an incoming government, many of which are possible to tackle immediately. They are what the party’s conference should be concentrating on this week.