Funny thing about Ed Miliband is that when he has a good day at PMQs (Prime Minister’s Questions), he still loses the argument.

David Cameron, who for once stood alone against the Euro mob in Brussels, gave him an easy time, but emerged unscathed.

Today, it was all about the “Christmas Veto”, a strange beast if ever there was one. You think you’ve seen it, when it suddenly disappears only to pop up again a moment later. Does it really exist, or is it another manifestation of the Higgs boson?

Rather than contribute even more confusion to the argument, here are the views of two specialists on the matter:

Intriguingly, on his Daily Telegraph blog, Mats Persson, Director of Open Europe writes that “contrary to popular belief, if played cleverly, the veto could remain a source of UK leverage in Europe for years to come…the threat of legal action is Cameron’s greatest asset at the moment. Any legal challenge would be a messy, lengthy affair, involving a lot of uncertainty. The Germans in particular – ever conscious of their Constitutional Court – know that the current arrangement involving an ad hoc euro treaty is legally dubious. As long as the Germans feel uncomfortable, Cameron maintains his leverage.”

John Redwood wags an accusatory finger at Labour’s frontbench: “Labour, of course, negotiated the UK into an arrangement under the existing Treaties where the Euro area requirements of the 17 are under the ECJ and serviced by the EU, even though 10 other states are not members. They allowed the idea of ‘enhanced co-operation’ to become established. This means they do already have Treaty powers to run a club within the club.”

At Wimbledon they would say: Game, set and match!

John Evans

who is the author of The Eternal Quest for Immortality: Is it staring you in the face? Available from Amazon and all good booksellers.

Mystics in the Modern World is coming soon.

Recent Related Articles