Party Polities And UK’s EU Policy Under David Cameron (2010-2016)

With the UK’s EU membership referendum looming ahead in June 2016, the UK’s European policy becomes one of the most controversial topics today. By examining the divisive European issues during two consecutive governments under David Cameron’s premiership, including the European Union Act. fiscal compact, Bloomberg speech, refugee crisis, and Cameron’s EU reform deal, the author examined the interactions between the European policy changes amidst crises and the British party politics. Regarding party politics, the author further analyzed the cooperation and competition between different British political parties, the evolution of voters’opinions, party management and the Conservative Party divisions and Labour’s cabinet reshuffle.A full range of data were employed in this research. In order to study political parties’ roles in the European policy making, the author examined party manifestos, party leaders’ speeches, the Coalition’s Programme for Government and so on. To analyse the party cooperation and interaction in the parliament, plenty of parliamentary debates (Hansard) scripts were employed. Opinion polls by various pollsters were also adopted to study the evolvement of voters’opinions and the development of euroscepticism. Apart from that, second hand data such as research papers in Chatham house and Parliament, news reports and previous studies by scholars were also included.To match with the increasingly sceptic British public and out of votes maximization and party cohesion concerns, David Cameron’s European policy was pragmatic yet increasingly sceptic, which can be exemplified by the introduction of European Union Act, the EU Referendum Bill, opt-out in the euro bailout schemes, the EU membership referendum, and limited efforts or even detachment to the refugee crisis in Europe. The UK’s uncompromising stance over the EU’s bailout schemes, EU budget and election of EU commission president had widened its division with other EU member states. While securing British interest, it also risked isolating Britain in the Europe and diminishing its influence. During the Coalition government, Britain gradually moved to the slow lane of Europe.In this research, the author argues that, the European issue and British party politics are interactive. On the one hand, European issue has a disruptive effect on British political parties. In the context of domestic economic austerity, the euro crisis and the refugee crisis in Europe worried the British public, igniting their sceptic mood to the EU. The rise of UKIP under growing Eurosceptic mood posed challenges to British politics. The two-party system and the third party are declining while other small parties are emerging. The UKIP not only infiltrated in main parties and increased intra-party divisions, but also influenced the main party’s policy making by competing for votes. Moreover, divisions over the European issue emerged both within the Conservative party and Labour Party.On the other hand, British party politics are an important source of Britain’s complicated relations with Europe. The adversarial character of British party system added awkwardness to the UK’s European policy. Out of vote-seeking concern, the Conservative party imitated the UKIP policies. Fear of the UK’s isolation and limited influence in the EU, the Liberal Democrats under the Coalition government served as a brake to the Conservative’s more risky European policy. As for the Labour Party, its role can be considered as a neutralizer of UK’s relation with EU. But it focused more on challenging the government’s European policy, rather than putting forward its own European policy.Since the 2015 General Election, the political landscape in the UK became more volatile. Marginalized parties such as the SNP and UKIP were rising to challenge the mainstream parties. The Liberal Democrats declined to the fourth place in the UK. And the role of a pro-EU Liberal Democrats as the coalition partner constraining the Conservative party was gone. The election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour’s party leader added uncertainty in British politics. And the Labour’s role holding balance on the European policy making was weakened. The Conservative Eurosceptics were more deeply divided over Europe.Cameron’s weak party management failed to quell the party dissent or keep the European issue off the agenda. He sought to diffuse the skepticism in the general public by holding a referendum. At the starting point, none of the three mainstream parties favoured UK’s EU exit. However, considering the volatile political landscape in the UK and the EU, many uncertainties and unpredictability exist in the referendum.The EU Reform Deal achieved on the EU summit was an artful compromise made by the EU and the UK. This deal guaranteed UK’s special status in the EU outside the euro and exempted from ever closer union. It helped David Cameron win back the undecided swing voters in the EU referendum and hold his Conservative party together. But it’s noteworthy that in the UK the Eurosceptic mood remained high in the wake of refugee crisis and terrorist attacks in Europe, considering the uncertainties and volatility in UK’s political landscape and European integration, the UK’s withdrawal from the EU cannot be ruled out from In/out referendum on 23 June,2016.