We had opt-outs in all these areas. We had more opt-outs than any other state.
The UK was provided more flexibility in its membership than anyone else, to the point where it was acknowledged that a 2-speed EU was needed, primarily to accommodate the UK as it was made abundantly clear to the EU that we did not wish for closer union at this time, with little prospect of that changing.
As I said a while ago we should have stayed in EFTA and joined the EEA.
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Here's a cracking piece by Faisal Islam discussing how unpredictable the next 3 months are and the various diplomatic and political battles TM and the government are having to fight simultaneously, this without Parliament aggressively pushing back on anything yet.
http://news.sky.com/story/sky-views-...table-11019976