All the huffing and puffing from both sides over the "stay" or "go" EU referendum may give the media headlines for the months to come before the 23 June referendum, but it is already getting tedious!
As for the Tory Party's inner conflict, this is apparently quite alarming for the City; when Boris Johnson decided that his future as next Tory leader depended on votes from the Brexit camp - the pound crashed through the floor...
Another contender, Michael Gove, as Justice Minister, has just thrown his hat in the ring by contending that nothing in Cameron's deal with the EU is legally binding! Presumably he "knows"?
In other words behind the whole big show is the fight over which of the historical factions in the Tory Party will win the fight to control it.
And the letter to the Times from 197 business "leaders" against Brexit, just exposes the conflicting interests within the capitalist class on the issue, reflected by the conflicts among politicians.
Anyway, since all issues under this capitalist system boil down to what's best for the bosses, the fact that they can't all have their cake and eat when it comes to the EU, means they will always disagree. As one US commentator put it: "The UK wants to be in the EU when it suits them and out when it does not and to be the final arbiter of both." "UK", meaning "UK capitalists", of course.
Whose sovereignty?
So the words and phrases being bandied about mean nothing. All the more so, when it comes to so-called "sovereignty". Brexiters say "Britain" loses sovereignty in Europe, so it must leave. Cameron claims he has maintained "sovereignty" by his "deal" so it must stay. But whose "sovereignty" are they really talking about?
Working people do not even have sovereignty here at home, not over the British parliament which is constantly passing laws against workers' interests, nor even over local councils, which do as they please.
Yes, for the bosses and their politicians, it matters only who decides the rules of financial markets and stock exchanges - in other words which group of capitalists will cut the throats of which other group of capitalists, within or without the City! Their "nationality" matters not!
Besides, when it comes to the might of big business and the economic clouds which are threatening another crash over our heads, even British politicians have no control over anything!
An international class
Cameron's EU Deal has nevertheless been negotiated on the basis that it somehow "protects" the non-existent "national interest" - while those promoting Brexit claim precisely the same thing.
Yet the phrase "national interest" completely obscures the class division in society - which is the one division the capitalist class wants to preserve: workers at the bottom and bosses on top. As far as they are concerned, the interests of the capitalist class must be taken care of, either way.
Moreover, behind this are dangerous implications for the working class. Nationalism has proved lethal, time and again. In its name, millions of workers on both sides were pushed onto the killing fields of two world wars.
In fact working class interests cannot be protected - neither by Cameron's "stay" nationalism on the one hand, nor Farage's, Gove's (or Galloway's) Brexit nationalism on the other. The working class can only exist viably and with security as an international class - which is what gives it the strength to resist the capitalists. And the politicking over the EU conceals a very direct attack on the working class as a whole.
The main thrust of Cameron's "crusade" is ostensibly aimed at attacking the rights only of EU workers in Britain. He wants to deprive them of in-work benefits and access to social housing for up to 4 years after they arrive in Britain. He also wants to reduce the child benefits they get in proportion to the cost of living in their home country.
He justifies this by saying the welfare system is the "magnet" drawing workers over here. Which is absurd. Workers come, because they want to work - and thus they contribute to the system and pay for any benefits they may get.
Cameron's real agenda was hinted at by a Downing Street spokesman: he let slip to the media that the government was considering applying the same 4-year qualifying period to British-born workers entering the labour market. In other words, using the pretext of EU "reform" to reduce the rights of all workers to welfare.
In reality, Cameron is using the cover of the EU issue to launch an attack on the whole working class - to create a 2-tier workforce in which some workers enjoy welfare rights, while others don't. We cannot - and should not - accept yet another division! The interest of the working class is to join ranks, across nationalities, to oppose all of these attacks.