EU referendum Yes campaign Britain Stronger in Europe makes for strange bedfellows – The City View
General Sir Peter Anthony Wall GCB CBE DL is a former head of the British army and a graduate of Cambridge and Sandhurst. Megan Dunn is a graduate of Aberdeen University and current president of the National Union of Students.
It’s hard to imagine the circumstances under which the two would meet, let alone share a platform. They are, however, just two of the names unveiled by the campaign to keep Britain in the European Union.
Britain Stronger in Europe launches today and pledges to put forward a “patriotic case” for our continued membership of the EU.
In addition to the former military top brass and the student campaigner, the In team includes the backing of senior figures from business and politics.
Stuart Rose, whose previously eurosceptic rhetoric has already come back to haunt him, joins City PR man Roland Rudd and TV personalities Karren Brady and Jude Sarpong on the board of the In campaign.
The campaign is to be commended for pulling together a broad spread of interests (Jude Kelly, artistic director at the Southbank Centre and Richard Reed, founder of Innocent drinks are also involved), but they face a formidable campaigning machine taking shape around the Out camp.
Vote Leave, which launched at the end of last week, will be coordinated by Matthew Elliott who has masterminded a number of campaigns, including the successful effort to reject the Alternative Vote system in Britain’s last referendum.
For both camps, big-name backers and the support of the business community will be seen as priorities. They will also both be fighting to make the same case: that their position represents the safer bet for Britain.
The “inners” will play on the strength Britain gains through membership while the “outers” will suggest that nothing can be stronger than self-rule. As the two teams take shape, Number 10 continues its efforts to renegotiate the terms of our EU membership.
Until the details of that proposal are seen by the British people, the parade of famous faces and media-savvy campaign launches have yet to be truly tested.
Cameron appears confident that he’ll get a good deal. Others are much more sceptical. Either way, check back in with the general and the National Union of Students when we know what we’ll be voting on.