I use to think that Blair’s desire to go to the European summit himself was a little bit vain and born of nothing more than a desire to give Jacques Chirac an Agincourt salute by outlasting him. But now, the cleverness of the move has dawned on me.
By making the EU summit his final act, Blair has guaranteed that the EU Constitution has been buried beneath—or, at least folded into—the bigger story about Brown finally taking over. Combine that with the bad weather, always a news favourite, and Wills and Kate supposedly getting back together and you’re already seeing Europe being pushed down the news bulletins. This is just what Labour want as it means that if it is going to return to the top of the news agenda Cameron is going to have put it there and thus run the risk of looking ‘obsessed by Europe.’
All of which makes the petition
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