Well no great surprise that the Irish electorate have voted "YES" in their Lisbon Treaty referendum.
I guess that it was hoping for too much that after their brave (and unexpected) decision 18 months ago that we would see a repeat of the "NO" vote.
All that now stands in the way of this repackaged version of the EU constitution being imposed on us is the Czech Republic and Poland who are, so far, refusing to ratify.
No doubt the full force of the EU will now threaten these 2 countries with all sorts of dire consequences if they try to derail the treaty.
I have no doubt that by the time of the next UK General Election that Poland and the Czech Republic will have ratified and that as a result another great chunk of our sovereignty will have been handed over to the EU.
I don't really think that David Cameron will be too disappointed about this.
Even though the overwhelming majority of Conservatives are, to some degree, "Euro sceptics" I suspect that the last thing Cameron wants is another bout of internal blood letting in the first few months of a future Tory government.
This surely would be inevitable if he had to make good on a promise of a Lisbon Treaty referendum - I am quite convinced that the likes of Ken Clark would actively campaign for Britain to ratify and thus reopen the divisions in the Tory party.
So whilst Cameron is currently able to show his Euro sceptic credentials and talk up a referendum (if the Tories win the election) I bet a pound to a penny he is hoping that the Czechs and Poles have ratified before May next year.
