Miliband in the 'merde'

I quote from the report of today's EU Scrutiny Committee session with the devious Foreign Secretary as reported by the usually pro-government Guardian, linked here: 'Mr Miliband has said that as long as the red lines were respected, there was no question of a referendum on the draft treaty.

However, today it emerged during Mr Miliband's questioning that if the UK does not agree to opt in on certain measures, there may be penalties - both constitutional and financial - for not agreeing to them.

"The red lines are about the right to choose," Mr Miliband told the committee. "For each and every measure the UK has a choice on whether to opt in."

The UK has five years to decide whether to opt in on certain measures as they are transposed from the current EU treaty to the new treaty. But under questioning from James Clappison, Conservative MP for Hertsmere, it was revealed that there could be penalties for not opting in.

If the UK decides not to opt in on a certain measure, the results could be that the new measure is dropped from the treaty - denying Britain the chance to opt in in future - or that the European commission could urge the UK to opt in on a measure, or the UK could be charged for not opting in following a vote by member states.

"If there are costs that are incurred as a result of opting out, we will bear them," said Mr Miliband.

As the panel became visibly frustrated over the course of the session, the chairman of the committee, Michael Connarty, eventually said the treaty was using bullying tactics in order to be passed and told Mr Miliband he was "shocked" he was trying to defend them.