EU couldn't make it up
David Miliband (remember him!) has become the latest politician to come out and criticise Prime Minister David Cameron to veto a new EU treaty, calling the move "foolish".
Today the Tory press are busy laying into Deputy PM Nick Clegg over his pygmy comment, much more focused, it appears, on trying to stir up another row in the coalition.
But Miliband (and Clegg, to a certain extent) are right, isolating ourselves from Europe is not just undesirable, it's taking a dangerous gamble with out future.
Europe holds grudges against those who stand in its way. Sarkozy, Merkel et al will remember Cameron's veto. It may have won him a few headlines and jingoistic rants of approval on newspaper website comment boards, but it could cost us dear.
What's the answer then? If I knew that I'd be the wisest man in Europe. At the moment the future is as clear as mud, and the continent must feel its way through slowly to avoid sending themselves and then the rest of the world into meltdown.
But Britain's interests are not best served by Cameron trying to win a popularity contest with his backbenchers, many of whom have an attitude to Europe forged at the end of the last war.
I'm glad we don't have the Euro at the moment, but we still need to have a say in what happens over the Channel. Without it, we're cast adrift into the Atlantic, and no matter how special the relationship with the US is, very much on our own.
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Dale Street Associates
David Bartlett
City editor of the Post and Echo covering politics, regeneration, and urban affairs.
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Today's Dailly Mail ( I bought it for the sudoku puzzles ) talked of 'David Cameron's triumphant appearance in the commons'.
While it is acceptable to approach a story from a particular angle there are limits.
All it takes for someone to continue with bad decisions is for someone to tell you that you are super smashing great in everything you do.