Blair, Brown and the tussle in Brussels

Two days to go and already the European Union summit is promising to be a cliffhanger. Will Blair sign? Will the Poles and the Czechs save him, and veto? No10 appears to be furious that Gordon Brown is holding out the prospect of a referendum and says there will be none “because we will not sign up to anything that breaches our red lines.” Yet I hear the Chancellor’s red lines are different: he doesn’t want a permanent EU president (especially one that may be called T Blair) and no EU foreign minister either. He’s right: this is the real test. Already, Mr Brown may be a better champion of British interests in Europe than Blair ever was.