Thoughts on Lisbon & the failure of UKIP

The Lisbon Treaty has been voted through by the Irish, as everybody knew it would be.

The Poles are set to ratify, as everybody knew they would do, and Vaclav Klaus will soon wave through Czech ratification, just as we knew he would.

Klaus' posturing over Lisbon was never anything more than just that; if he fails to agree to ratification he will be going against the will of his own parliament, which would be totally unacceptable. UKIP (and the Tory right) have slavishly and misguidedly worshipped this man, anticipating that he would "derail" the treaty.

This demonstrates their total lack of understanding of the political process. This is tragic, as our country, and indeed all of Europe, needs powerful voices of dissent - politically astute and informed to the most minute of details - instead we get a bunch of drunks, dogmatics and climate change deniers, masquarading as Eurosceptics whilst they strut on the Brussels stage lapping up the expenses, and in the most deplorable of cases, employing wives who do no work at all.

Klaus played a blinder for his country, ensuring that the Czechs were able to punch above their weight during the Lisbon negotiations - what a pity we never had a single MEP in Brussels with the intelligence to understand how the game was being played out. Our so-called "Eurosceptics" have let us down badly through a combination of political ignorance, laziness, and bad leadership. Brawling in bars, consorting with prostitutes, and falling down drunk in public. That is, sadly, what UKIP MEPs will be remembered for.

David Cameron is now off the hook, and will not have to deliver on his pre-election promise of a referendum; he will be a happier man now than he was a week ago. He will no longer have to "out-dissent" UKIP in order to hold on to votes, UKIP's raison d'etre just flew into the history books.