I’m just getting round to reading about the debate in Parliament on the European Union (Amendment) Bill. This morning I fired off a letter to my MP asking what his views were on the matter and pointing out that the Government position that the treaty was not the manifesto becomes increasingly untenable every time another EUropean leader says it is.

Parliament are going to discuss it for at least fifteen days over the next four weeks. But- what the fuck for? They either accept it exactly as it stands, put it to a referendum or throw it out. There aren’t any half way houses, no possibilities of tweaking or amendment.

I’ve since seen last night’s vote on the second reading, approving it in principle. Of course, the parties are running a “three line whip” so voting against the party line involves some strong arse kicking, but 22 MPs felt principled enough to go against the flow (19 Labour voted NO, three Tory voted AYE).

My local MP followed the party line. My opinion of this can be readily determined from the title of this blogpost.

“I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this any more!”

Hat tip: Steve Green