Nick Clegg’s only true allegiance is to his belief in a federal Europe

When Nick Clegg assures us that he is a man of principle, he is telling the truth. He does have one deeply held principle: the ground of his political being. He believes in a federal Europe. Europe is not only his continent. It is his country.

But there is a problem. Such views are not widely popular with the electorate. They are not even popular with Mr Clegg’s own MPs, who would like to hold on to their seats. This is why Nick Clegg often seems anaemic and insipid. To be obliged to remain silent on the one subject which could transmute platitudes into eloquence; there could be no greater handicap for a politician. 

At times, it can be a grovelling and humiliating silence. In 2005, the Liberals were prepared to sound courageous on the proposed EU constitution. Their Election Manifesto declared that: ‘We are therefore clear in our support for the constitution, which we believe is in Britain’s interests.’ It went on to reassure anxious voters who did not agree: ‘But ratification must be subject to a referendum of the British people.’

That seems as clear a commitment as an honest man could give or a concerned voter expect. But after a lick of paint turned the constitution into a mere Treaty, the Liberals rushed to help Gordon Brown to lie it through parliament. Given the parliamentary arithmetic, it was not necessary for them to vote in favour. They merely had to abstain, which they did, thus abstaining themselves out of any claim to honour or decency. In the Lords, the vote was tighter. Abstention was not enough. To pass the Lisbon Treaty, it was necessary for the Liberals to extract the fence from their fundament and vote for a full-scale breach of promise.