Slings and arrows

“TO BE, or not to be together, that is the question,” tweeted the president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, on February 2nd as he published a draft plan offering Britain new terms of membership of the European Union. David Cameron, who had hammered out the bargain with Mr Tusk, was clearly feeling less lyrical. Rather than face questions in the House of Commons, the prime minister jumped on a train to visit a German-owned factory in Wiltshire, while his Europe minister took the parliamentary brickbats. Newspaper headlines the following day were hardly poetic. “Who do EU think you are kidding, Mr Cameron?” demanded the Sun.

Liam Fox, a Eurosceptic former defence minister, said none of the changes in Mr Tusk’s plan “even come close to the fundamental changes promised to the public”. Mr Cameron, however, claimed that he had got the concessions he promised in 2013 when he sought to close down Britain’s never-ending debate about EU membership by offering an in/out referendum.