READ THE TREATY!

So David Cameron believes that in Brussels he has secured a deal to limit the increase in the EU budget to 2.9%

Has he never read the Lisbon Treaty? He spent enough time denouncing it last year, but it seems that he never did get around to reading it, and nor did most of the British journalists commenting on this week's European Council meeting.

The European Parliament has budgetary powers that match those of the Council. Governments can't do a deal without the consent of the Parliament, and the Parliament negotiating position is to call for a 5.9% increase.

Personally I agree with Cameron; no way should the EU budget next year increase by more than the rate of inflation. That's how I voted, as did the British Liberal Democrat delegation of MEPs. But we were on the losing side.

Real negotiations between Council and Parliament have yet to begin. The MEPs will not get their 5.9% increase. But I bet that the governments aren't able to limit the increase to 2.9%.

A MISSED CALL

What a time to lose my phone charger!

Klaus signs the Lisbon Treaty. The appointment of a President of the European Council leaps to the top of the agenda. The phone lines will be busy, and every Prime Minister in Europe knows that I am available for interview.

But my phone has run out of power. It is inoperable for many hours. When I am able to charge it once again a missed call is indicated, but no number has been left.

I keep the phone close to me now, but have I missed the vital call? Has the boat sailed by?

BLAIR FOR PRESIDENT?

Can we get real? On the one hand the Tories claim that the Lisbon Treaty is not likely to be adopted before the next general election, and therefore possibly not at all, and on the other hand they are going wild at the prospect of Tony Blair becoming 'President of Europe'.

I'm with them in not wanting Tony Blair to get the job. I appreciate his presentational skills - they are hugely impressive and work as well in the European Parliament as in the House of Commons -but I believe the man deceived MPs, launched an illegal war that led to the unnecessary deaths of hundreds of thousands - and rightly belongs in The Hague, not in Brussels.

But the depiction of the job in Britain has been ludicrous; I've even read one europhobe describe it as that of 'head of state'.

The reality is that it amounts to no more than than being chairman of the European Council, the gathering of the 27 Prime Ministers. The holder of the post will sit alongside whoever is Prime Minister of the country holding the EU presidency, a role that rotates every six months. No job description has been prepared and there are plenty of Prime Ministers who want to keep it strictly limited.

So if the job doesn't amount to much why describe the holder as 'President'? Well, the European Commission has a President, and the European Parliament has a President, so for the sake of consistency....

Mind you, an independent chairman of the European Council even with a limited role could still provide a huge service. They could do what none of the rotating office holders ever do, they could highlight the failings of those Member States who do not come close to respecting the high ideals and principles to which the EU is publicly committed.

Now there's food for thought. Forget 'Blair for President,' doesn't 'Davies for President' have a good ring to it?!

UKIP HELPS THE 'YES' CAMPAIGN

God bless Nigel Farage. The UKIP leader's intervention in the Irish referendum campaign is being credited by 'Yes' campaigners as having helped them secure such a very large majority. "It was manna from heaven," writes one columnist in the Irish Times.

Arrogant, English, twits as they are, UKIP's use of a turkey in an attempt to make a point about possible future EU enlargement allowed them to be portrayed as rude and racist.

The EU has its faults, but it's not hard to see why those in Ireland who took a good look at UKIP went firmly the other way.

THANK YOU, IRELAND

67pc in favour of the Lisbon Treaty. A convincing result, and I feel absolutely great about it.

It's not that I'm convinced that the treaty is going to make that much difference. If the 27 EU governments want to take action together then good progress can always be made. If they don't want to then, treaty or no treaty, it will always be a shambles and we will only muddle along.

But all those who have lied about what the treaty means, or who distort everything about the EU, have been confounded.

There's a way to go yet but the Tory and UKIP little Englanders and xenophobes are unhappy, and that feels good, good, good.