To stand any chance in the referendum that is coming, the Out campaign should calmly distance itself from that rag-tag of Ukip MEPs, and the warring Ukip leadership, and hope that the party’s 3.8 million voters turn up regardless. Moderate voices from business and beyond should be deployed urgently who can counter the wave of pro-EU propaganda about to be unleashed on middle-ground voters. If that cannot be done, if the Eurosceptic cause cannot be decontaminated, then the Out campaign should prepare to get thrashed.Everyone sees it but Farage. Failure seems inevitable now Farage has gone full Galloway. I've spent months trying to reach these people but we cannot do business with "Liblabcon/EUSSR" headbangers. We've tried. Their cult comes first.
The Kipper line is that there will be no referendum and if there is, they'll lose it, so they carry on marching behind Farage in the rather optimistic delusion they'll eventually take power. As far as they're concerned the referendum will be "rigged" so we can't possibly win it, so in the kipper mind there is no fault attached to losing it - even if they're utterly repellent.
Up to now I've never seen round 1 as winnable, just an opportunity to put the issue front and centre and build up an alliance of experienced and knowledgeable campaigners who can be put to use in any future treaty referendum. That's when we'll see a huge swing against the EU, but that can only happen if we lose this referendum well. Farage seems absolutely determined it should be a wipe-out and lose as badly as possible. I've said it before and I'll say it again - Ukip is the most malevolent force in British politics.
