Bill Cash The Europhile?

Oh dear. These Tories are proving to be a bit of a let down aren't they?

Bill Cash MP is a let-down. In the 1990s, he was a hero of Eurosceptics: a leading Tory critic of the Maastrict Treaty who founded the European Foundation to attack the excesses of the European Project and the endless demands for ever closer union.

Now he’s no better than a Europhile.

Ouch, but it's worth remembering that the so-called 'hero of the Eurosceptics' never got his whip withdrawn unlike other Tories:

...his views haven’t changed – but the political debate has. In the 1990s, it was seen as loony to oppose EU membership, so it was perfectly normal for critics of the EU to argue merely for an “open Europe” and against “Brussels bureaucrats”. Nowadays, EU withdrawal has become a mainstream view and even the integrationists rail against Brussels’ waste.

In other words it's taken nearly 20 years for the Tories to catch up and work it out for themselves:

In the conservative movement, it is no longer just the older Tory rank-and-file who want to leave the EU. Tim Montgomerie of ConservativeHome wants to leave. Wonks such as the 20-something Tom Clougherty, executive director of the Adam Smith Institute, hang out at the Better Off Out group’s drink receptions, and David Green, of Civitas, has published reports calling for withdrawal. Moreover, rising stars among Tory politicians, such as Philip Davies MP, Philip Hollobone MP, Douglas Carswell MP and Dan Hannan MEP are openly in favour of resigning EU membership.

And they still won't do anything about it.

Yet Mr Cash has steadfastedly chosen not to join them, still apparently believing that Britain is better off in the European Union. In the politics of the 2010s, doesn’t that count as pro-European?

Rather like David "out is not in Britain's interests" Cameron.