Watching the cat-flap

by Dr. Richard North

From the Conservative Party website – a statement by Liam Fox headed: "The Constitution is dead", with the following text:

In response to the Netherlands' rejection of the EU Constitution, ShadowForeign Secretary, Dr Liam Fox MP, said: ''The French voters gave the Constitution its death sentence. The Dutch voters have now dealt a fatal blow. The Constitution is dead. The British Government must now give the lead and unpick the mess which Europe has become to create, instead, the Europe which the peoples of the continent want. This was the Constitution which Tony Blair negotiated and put his name to. If his Government now tries to implement any part of the Constitution by the back door, they will be treating the British people with contempt. If that happens, the Conservative Party will insist on a referendum to give the British people their legitimate voice.''

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But, while the Conservatives are watching the cat-flap at the back door, the constitution is already marching in at the front, via those bits that have already been implemented. These include setting up the EU's own worldwide diplomatic service and its police college in Hampshire, co-ordinating EU-wide police training and procedures, launching the EU's Galileo space programme and the European Defence Agency to co-ordinate the Unions' defence forces.