Seumas Milne: A Tory-led exit from Europe would unleash a carnival of reaction - The nationalist right has long set the agenda. Labour should back a referendum and make the progressive case for change

But public opinion remains overwhelmingly in favour of a referendum. And, as elsewhere in Europe, the only reason the political elite continues to resist giving people a vote on such a fundamental and changed constitutional relationship is because it fears it may not get the right result. That's clearly an unsustainable anti-democratic nonsense, which will poison the political water until it's corrected. Unlike in other parts of Europe, where opposition to the EU or its policies has straddled the political spectrum, in Britain it has been dominated since the late 80s by the fake patriots of the Tory right and their cheerleading press. While claiming to champion national and democratic sovereignty against an unaccountable Europe, they're more than happy to swallow subordination to the United States and the City of London. So if Cameron and the Tories are able to monopolise the campaign to change the EU relationship, it's clear what the negotiation will be all about.

Mein Blog befasst sich in einem umfassenden Sinn mit dem Verhältnis von Wissen, Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft. Ein besonderes Augenmerk richte ich dabei auf die Aktivitäten des Medien- und Dienstleistungskonzern Bertelsmann und der Bertelsmann Stiftung.