Thursday, 15 October 2009

 
 
 
With President Klaus demanding a last-minute amendment as the price of his signature [to the discredited Lisbon Treaty] — the final approval required in the 27-nation European Union — the Government is locked in a trial of strength with its head of state and is on the brink of a constitutional crisis. If it supports his demands the treaty might have to be reopened amid lengthy delays, possibly allowing time for David Cameron’s Conservatives to win the next British election and hold a referendum on the treaty as they have promised.