Breathing life into the corpse

Last updated at 08:33 08 June 2005

Quelle surprise! Just 10 days after the French dealt a 'mortal' blow to the EU constitution, a miraculous resurrection is under way.

What started as a catastrophe and became a cataclysm when the Dutch voted No is now, with snake-oil blandishments, being downgraded to a mere misfortune and - wait for it - will soon be dismissed as just an irritating blip.

And while the Brussels juggernaut re-fires its engines, we have a British Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary falling over each other to placate the EU by promising to help breathe new life into this unloved treaty.

Jack Straw declares there are many worthwhile elements in the constitution which can be salvaged - without troubling the voters with a referendum.

And Tony Blair, who - his spin doctors said - had a 'new calling' to purge the EU of its anachronistic labour and welfare laws, uses a Financial Times interview to lavish praise on the very 'social model' that has helped flatten the Eurozone economies.

This is at a time when the Franco-German axis that dominates Europe has never been weaker and genuine reform could be initiated.

After all, Gerhard Schroeder will be gone by Christmas and Jacques Chirac will follow him to the knacker's yard within a couple of years.

But there's the rub. Mr Blair knows that the two dinosaurs of Old Europe will go down fighting by unleashing a revenge attack on Britain's EU budget rebate.

There's more to it than that, however. Mr Blair is at heart a true believer in the European 'project'. With his satrap Peter Mandelson constantly tugging him Brussels-wards, his instinct is with the EU political establishment, not the sceptical British voter.

And that political establishment, of course, is ruled by a Kafkaesque logic which seems to accept that the people have spoken - but how sad that they were so misguided.

Now it is time to ignore their wishes and move on.

Fighting filth

Britain, let's face it, has become a filthy country. The litter that engulfs us is an affront to what purports to be a civilised society.

Many have become so inured to the rubbish on our streets and country verges that they scarcely notice it any longer.

Foreign visitors do - just as we notice how well-scrubbed most European cities are compared to our own.

The Government has finally taken note and given councils stringent new powers to curb litter louts and fly-tippers.

On-the-spot fines of £50 - soon rising to £75 - can be imposed for dropping even a cigarette butt, while fly-tippers face fines of up to £50,000 and five years in prison. More pertinently, councils will be allowed to keep the money.

Yes, these measures are Draconian. They smack of the kind of nanny state interference this newspaper abhors.

And doubtless they will increase the number of snooping jobsworths who already make our lives such a misery.

But isn't drastic action long overdue?

The fact is, the parents and schools who in a sensible world should instil in children a sense of civic pride have failed.

And the days when good citizens would chastise a youngster for dropping litter are long gone. Such public spiritedness would nowadays be greeted with a burst of obscene abuse, or worse.

The success of New York's zero tolerance policy shows us that a refusal to accept anti-social behaviour, no matter how minor, is crucial in the fight against crime.

A cleaner Britain would be a happier Britain. That is why it is up to all of us to try to make it happen.