Rebels With A Cause
The Prime Minister - David Cameron - picked a fight with his own party last night over its attitude to Europe - a subject which has proved completely toxic for the Tories in the past.
But the weird thing is - how irrelevant and 'other wordly' this debate felt in Scotland.
Probably because we have only one Tory MP north of the border - and no one gives two hoots about the UK Independence Party (UKIP) - which has many Conservative MPs in England worried about the political futures.
Now aspects of the European Union concern people across the UK - the bloated common agricultural policy which needs cut down to size - the common fisheries policy which pays public money to landlocked central European countries.
So the European Union is desperately in need of reform in many areas - but so are lots of other institutions including many which operate in the UK.
How we go about that is the key and David Cameron - to his credit - decided not to run scared of the new, largely Eurosceptic intake of Tory MPs.
Instead he decided to stand up and tell them candidly - that they are absolutely wrong.
At a time when the Eurozone economies are in a mess - some in real danger of collapse - what the UK should be doing is showing solidarity and leadership.
Which means asking tough questions but the right questions - not the political equivalent of 'when are you going to stop beating your wife?'
The Westminster rebels - which includes a number of Labour MPs - undoubtedly have a cause.
Yet their angry instincts tell them to throw the baby out with the bathwater - when the real issue is about reforming the world's biggest single trading market - from within.
So the people have spoken - some of them at least.
So too have the angry mobs in Athens - but that doesn't make them right.
But the weird thing is - how irrelevant and 'other wordly' this debate felt in Scotland.
Probably because we have only one Tory MP north of the border - and no one gives two hoots about the UK Independence Party (UKIP) - which has many Conservative MPs in England worried about the political futures.
Now aspects of the European Union concern people across the UK - the bloated common agricultural policy which needs cut down to size - the common fisheries policy which pays public money to landlocked central European countries.
So the European Union is desperately in need of reform in many areas - but so are lots of other institutions including many which operate in the UK.
How we go about that is the key and David Cameron - to his credit - decided not to run scared of the new, largely Eurosceptic intake of Tory MPs.
Instead he decided to stand up and tell them candidly - that they are absolutely wrong.
At a time when the Eurozone economies are in a mess - some in real danger of collapse - what the UK should be doing is showing solidarity and leadership.
Which means asking tough questions but the right questions - not the political equivalent of 'when are you going to stop beating your wife?'
The Westminster rebels - which includes a number of Labour MPs - undoubtedly have a cause.
Yet their angry instincts tell them to throw the baby out with the bathwater - when the real issue is about reforming the world's biggest single trading market - from within.
So the people have spoken - some of them at least.
So too have the angry mobs in Athens - but that doesn't make them right.
