Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. Nick Ansell/PA Wire/Press Association Images. All rights reserved.
As political strategies go, David Cameron’s plan to hold a referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union is almost perfect – apart from the fact that it is inherently flawed. He forgot to account for the hitherto unimaginable risk that the leader of the Labour party would decide not to campaign for 'Bremain'. Ultimately, however, the damage to Labour will be just as significant.
It is of course a bit of a stretch to say that the decision to defer to the one-off wisdom of the British people with an irreversible plebiscite represents a well-considered plan on the part of the Conservative leadership. It was more or less forced on Cameron by the Conservatives’ inexplicably rabid backbenchers in the context of his failure to win a majority in 2010, a dynamic that has also compelled him to reluctantly include some of those most afflicted by Europhobia in his cabinet.
