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The bright side of Lisbon

Sir - Is there a bright side to being denied our promised referendum on the Lisbon Treaty? If we had got it and won it, we would have killed the treaty in a way the people of Ireland cannot. But we would have stayed where we are, ensnared in the Treaty of Nice.

Brussels has used that treaty to legislate 25 per cent faster than before the French and Dutch rejections of the original constitution. Thus, the project of European integration would have continued, surreptitiously and piecemeal. But now, as the new EU mega-state pursues its undemocratic path, conflict will grow between the political class and the rest of us. Our greatest weakness lies in those who believe that we can reform our relationship with Brussels from within the EU.

Yet, the clauses in Nice which mean that Lisbon is dead after Ireland said “no” are also those which require unanimity among all 27 member states before the smallest power can be returned to us.

Such unanimity will not be attainable; the only way out will be the door.

Lord Pearson of Rannoch, London SW1

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