Time to suspend Lisbon ratification

It would be ludicrous for the UK to continue with the process of ratification following the Irish vote - which is not to say that this government won't do so.

The treaty as signed cannot come into effect until all countries have ratified it. The Irish electorate have voted not to ratify it.

In the unlikely event that the EU Council of Ministers manage to come up with a deal which persuades the Irish government that they can put the issue back to the Irish people, it would be the most obvious common sense that Britain should wait until we know what that deal is before we continue with ratification.

None of which changes my view that the manifesto commitment of all major UK parties to have a referendum on the EU constitution, which was virtually identical to the Lisbon treaty, should have been honoured.

The government appears to be all over the place on this: Brown and Milliband appear to be saying that ratification will continue, yet a government source has suggested that anyone who imagines that the treaty can continue as if nothing has happened is "living in cloud-cuckoo land".

Quite.

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