Better fall into line, Glenys

It's a good job that Lady Kinnock was not Europe Minister this time last year when the Government was falling over itself to persuade us that the EU Constitution Lisbon Treaty was nothing to bother our little wooden heads about.

One particularly misleading and often repeated claim was that the Treaty secured Britain's veto in foreign policy - that "unanimity in decision-making will remain the rule (i.e. the UK will hold a veto)", as the FCO told a Commons inquiry.

The Lib Dems argued the same thing:

Ed Davey: "The changes wrought by the treaty involve no new powers for Brussels but a simple and sensible reallocation of powers between those responsible for this area of policy. Foreign and security policy remains, as it always has been, in the control of member states. Britain controls its veto on all key decisions."

Interesting then to see Glenys telling the Fabian Society:

"Vetoes are a problem in foreign policy. We need the foreign policy reforms which were in the Constitutional Treaty".

Indeed. As we have long argued, the Treaty, just like the Constitution that preceded it, introduces majority voting into a dozen areas of foreign policy (See page 3 here).