The will he? won’t he? was finally settled, with a date of 18 January in Amsterdam for David Cameron’s speech on Europe. But then reality intervened in the form of a terrorist attack on a gas installation in Algeria which provides rather more pressing duties for the prime minister.
But isn’t that the point? Whatever British politicians might want to say about Europe, British interests are entwined with Europe whether they like it or not. Islamist gunmen storming a pumping station are not going to separate out the hostages according to who is an EU citizen and who is from somewhere else. The interdependent world includes us.
So, when the prime minister finally gets to deliver his speech, his case against an attempt at isolation will be strengthened, which leaves us with the question of how to make EU membership work better.
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The latest set of extracts, issued in advance of a speech that was never given, is here http://www.politicshome.com/uk/article/70053/pms_delayed_europe_speech.html