Watching the EU unravel (5)

The overall tenor of comments by the Lib Dem and Labour panellists on last week's Question Time was that 'MPs have to sign up to the Lisbon Treaty without a referendum because it's too complicated for the average voter to understand', while cheerfully admitting that they didn't understand it themselves*. Not that the Tories aren't total hypocrites in this regard, of course, with the notable exceptions of Bill Cash and John Redwood.

The original CON-stitution was rejected by the French lefties (for being too 'free market') and by the more free-market Dutch (presumably for being too Statist). Our next best hope is that the Irish, having rejected the Nice Treaty in 2002 and having filled their boots with EU subsidies over the past three decades**, now reject the Lisbon Treaty out of naked self-interest, despite the EU Parliament having decided to ignore the result anyway.

Don't forget that people don't like signing up to stuff that they don't understand, let alone allowing others to do it on their behalf. If you rent a house, or take on a new job, you don't know whether your new landlord or new employer will be a decent sort or a complete shit; similarly, a landlord or employer can't know whether a new tenant will pay the rent on time and leave the property in good condition, or whether a new employee will do what he's paid for or be a lazy scoundrel, but at least the battle-lines are clear. Who in their right mind would allow somebody else to sign you up for something far more fundamental than either? Where it's not clear what the point is or even where the battle-lines are?

* I in turn cheerfully admit that I am an average voter and I don't understand it either, and as I can't be bothered to spend months reading it and understanding the full enormity, I'd rather we didn't sign up, if that's all the same, thanks!

** €55 billion net subsidies since 1973 divided by population 4 million = €13,750 each, or over £10,000 each in old money.