Tuesday 10 November 2015

A word about "showing unity"

There I go again - attacking my own side.

We've already had drips of it and we expect that will intensify. The old "why are you attacking your own side" riff. We'd be the first to point out that any organisation whose activities are likely to keep us in the EU are not people on our own side. This includes Leave.EU and Vote Leave Ltd.

David Cameron is assisted by some of the finest political minds in the country, be they party officials or civil servants. You don't get to that level of government without having some inherent talent. (Stop laughing at the back). Cameron and his team have seen us coming. They've has expert analysts pouring over every possible scenario and they have concluded that it is the moderate middle they need to convince in order to win.

What we don't need is eurosceptic organisations looking to please each other without extending the reach of their message. Such people are of absolutely zero use to the campaign.

Closer to the time we will be ignoring the main campaigns, but for the time being, it is necessary to attack them, not least because there is a tiny, remote chance they might listen to us and at least try to moderate their own output. - But we also attack as a recruitment aide to our own campaign. By highlighting the various errors they make it will make it all the more apparent why our way is manifestly superior. Certainly, poking at Dominic Cummings seems to have some small effect. What we won't do is give any of them a free pass when their activities undermine our own.

In some respects because these groups on "our side" lack tactical acumen, groups like BSE and British Influence are useful idiots for us. They provide a distraction. If all we are going to get from Leave.EU is incoherent and indiscriminate grunting about the EU then it really is best if they don't engage and let the grown-ups get on with it. Moreover, Ruth Lea inexplicably bleating about the trade deficit will do little more than put people to sleep. The last thing they're going to do is hop on to Wikipedia to find out what a trade deficit is.

Similarly, Vote Leave Ltd attacking the CBI is neither here nor there. I would hazard a guess that most voters are only dimly aware that the CBI exists and most couldn't tell you what it does. Ok, so you might catch me pulling the wings off the British Influence flies on Facebook now and then, but that's largely a morning workout routine and certainly not central to my efforts. It's a bit of light entertainment. The bottom line is that David Cameron and his vision of a reformed Europe is the opposition in this contest  - and the end debate will not be on the respective merits of the EU among the swing votes. It will be Cameron's credibility versus ours.

I may yet be surprised and "our side" might get their act together, but until such a time, I'm not going to support them, nor am I going to help with damage control when they make avoidable errors. They have made their respective choices. Let the consequences be theirs. Unless they sort themselves out they are not on my side - and actually, when we need to reach the same audience that Cameron is chasing - it's not going hurt us for there to be clear blue water between us and them.

So yes, I'll keep attacking them - until such a time when it's strategically necessary to ignore them. And ignore them I shall - with great pleasure. Unity is for lemmings.

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