A quote from Richard North at the EUreferendum blog, 14 November 2007

The trouble is the European Union is not a one-to-one relationship between individuals who are in control of their own destiny and who can make or break relationships at will. If the analogy has any relevance at all, this is a shotgun marriage, where we are not allowed any say in the matter. The divorce courts are closed and shuttered.

That much is evident from the conduct of Nicolas Sarkozy in the EU parliament yesterday, [...]. Speaking in what he thought was a closed meeting of MEPs, he told his audience that referendums on the new treaty were "dangerous" and would be lost in France, Britain and other countries.

Quite simply, he was admitting that governments could not win popular votes on a "simplified treaty" [...] Furthermore, the French president is well aware – as indeed are we – that this treaty is not the end of the process. [...] And we already know that he is planning to use his turn at the EU presidency to call for new European powers in highly sensitive areas such as defence. [...]

[W]e are thus confronted with a political élite that knows full well that it is embarking on a course of action that does not have the consent of the people. But it is determined to go ahead anyway. [...]

Our masters have acquired and are displaying an utter contempt for the democratic process, the rule of law and the fundamental precepts which go to make up stable societies. In so doing, it is self-evident that they have nothing but contempt for us, the people. Thus, when he writes of our contempt for our masters, [Daniel] Hannan is not picking up an isolated phenomenon. We are simply reciprocating the view held of us by our masters.

The problem is that our masters may know this, but do not care. They have the power and they have (our) money. As long as the democratic process is so corrupt that elections are essentially meaningless – we can change the faces but not the government – they need not take any notice of us.

Thus, in our powerless state, all we have left is contempt – until, that is, that we move to the next stage. And that, despite Hannan's fond wishes, will not involve "divorce". It will be something altogether a lot more permanent.