A good conservative approach to EU change

Just to throw in a bit of policy, yesterday I watched William Hague's speech to the conference hall which focused very much on Europe and a referendum. Crucially, if you read the papers this morning, then you'll see that a commitment has been made to amend the original act that took us into what was the EEC so that any further transfer of powers in treaties must be put to referendum.

This is virtuially identical to how the law works in Ireland, and from a pure sovereignty point of view it's actually surprising that a pledge for such a provision has been so long coming. It's quite an astute political move too because it compresses the european question into simple terms. Of course there will always be calls for powers already gone to be returned, but the first step for Britian to redraw how it works with the EU is to put in place mechanisms that ensure no further changes can occur without a proper democratic authority from the people.

There's no doubt the EU is a significant political issue, but it's not really the single issue most non-politicos care about. Some might argue that they should care, but it doesn't change the fact that they don't. To offer therefore a policy on Europe that is simple to understand and will make more people aware of the arguments when they occur after treaty negotiations is surely a good thing? It's also an excellent expression of what a conservative approach to change is all about.