De quoi avez-vous peur, Gordon?

Let us step aside for a moment from the political posturing and horse-trading at the Lisbon EU summit and go back to the beginning. On 20 April 2004, Tony Blair announced to the House of Commons that there would, after all, be a referendum on the EU Constitutional Treaty. It is important to restate the precise reasons the then Prime Minister cited for his dramatic U-turn.

Mr Blair was emphatic that his decision did not in any sense signify a recognition that the proposals represented a fundamental constitutional change. ‘The Treaty,’ he stressed, ‘does not and will not alter the fundamental nature of the relationship between member states and the European Union.’ Set aside for a moment the accuracy or inaccuracy of that claim. Officially, the Labour government decided to endorse a referendum not because it had finally acknowledged the huge constitutional shifts implicit in the text, but because Mr Blair wanted to defeat, once and for all, the supposed myths propagated by Eurosceptics.

Again, it is worth recalling precisely what he said in 2004: ‘It is all nonsense myth designed to distance people’s understanding of what Europe is truly about and loosen this country’s belief in its place in Europe. It has been an unrelenting, but, I have to accept, at least partly successful campaign to persuade Britain that Europe is a conspiracy aimed at us…. It is right to confront this campaign head on…. Parliament should debate [the Treaty] in detail and decide upon it. Then, let the people have the final say.’ In the end, of course, the French and Dutch saw to it that the Treaty was abandoned, and the promised British referendum cancelled.