EU Referendum Lock Worthless...

...so says Douglas Carswell, here's his post in full:

The government is offering us a referendum "lock", which will guarantee any new EU treaty will require a plebiscite.

Do ministers take us for fools?

This “lock” is worthless – and ministers must know it. Under the Lisbon Treaty (no referendum), the EU doesn't need any more treaties to give itself more powers. That, Mr Hague and Mr Liddington, was kind of the point of offering a referendum in the first place ....

Incidentally, since we promised this “lock”, the EU has 1) established a diplomatic corps, which we voted through the Commons, 2) given Eurocrats control over the City, 3) extended the EU arrest warrant, and 4) agreed to an inflation-busting EU budget increase. We've hardly stopped give the EU more powers since May, have we?

The idea this referendum "lock" stops Brussels from continuing to assume more powers, usually with ministerial acquiesce, is balls. We might have had a changed ministers at the Foreign Office this year, but I can see no evidence of any change in EU integrationist policy.

Absolutely right, but one has to wonder why he remains in the Tory party.