Dave's "cast-iron" guarantee turns to rust

So Cameron's zwischenzug on the Lisbon Treaty finally ran out of time, now that the Czechs have finally ratified.

It was always a hopeless ploy, promising a referendum when every other country in the EU had already ratified.

I'm fed up of the shenanigans of the Tories, and to a lesser extent the Labour Party, over Europe.
I am an internationalist, and believe that co-operation amongst states is the best way forward for everyone on this tiny blue planet of ours.
I am a huge fan of the United Nations with all its faults and shortcomings.

I am an even bigger fan of the "European Project".
Think about it, a continent that twice in the last century through terrible wars was brought to its knees, and also brought much of the rest of the world into ruin, is finally at peace.

The idea that we could ever go to war with Germany again or that we would witness the sight of German tanks at the Eiffel Tower is frankly ludicrous.
For that alone the EU and our contribution to it is worthwhile.

Not to mention the fact that it has stabilised militaristic and fascistic regimes in Greece, Spain, and Portugal.
And as we come to the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, democracy has spread and been firmly rooted in the former Eastern Bloc countries, thanks in large part to the European Union.

I am fed up of the "little Englander" mentality that automatically assumes that everything that comes out of the mainland is a threat rather than an opportunity.
I'm fed up with Tories wanting to "protect" us from Europe rather than "promoting" us in Europe.
I'm fed up of the right-wing media constantly distorting the truth about Europe, whilst all their editors, senior journalists, and multi-millionaire owners have property in the Dordogne, or Chiantishire.

We are in Europe, we are of Europe, and I want us to be leading Europe rather than sniping from the sidelines.

Maybe Nick Clegg's proposals for a wider referendum on whether Britain should remain in the EU, is the way to go.