NOW this is interesting. James Kirkup at the Telegraph broke the news last night that as well as having its manifesto writen by five old Etonians (and one former pupil of St Pauls, and I don’t mean the one in Beechmount!), the Tories will be going into the next election determined not go into coalition.
Bold move by the Cameroons. Though as Mike from Political Betting notes, it is one that could swing both ways.
It would certainly clear the decks for a big fat fight over Europe in the next General election. In which case, part of the gamble would entail betting that Labour as a largely passive fan of Europe has little or no appetite for opening up a strong debate on continued membership of EU.
From an Irish point of view, the real anxiety in the Republic has always been the potential for the UK as a whole to decide to up and leave the EU.
It would harden Ireland’s land border in a way we haven’t since since Maastricht, and in the process it complicate an already difficult problem for constitutional nationalist politicians pre-occupied, to one degree or another, with finding ways to pull the island together.
Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty
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