It's Hard to Draw Red Lines With Your Snout Still in the Trough

Having stuck to their principles on so much else, the Deputy Conservatives are now arguing over whether to surrender over Europe. Nick Clegg, ever the middle-aged man in a hurry and still remarkably susceptible to the lure of a red box and a pinky-purple Daveybloke dimple, believes deeply and sincerely that the nation's interests would best be served by throwing his European principles overboard now, while presumably keeping agreement to a snoopers' charter in reserve for those bumpy bits at mid-term. Vince Cable, the left-wing firebrand who did so much for hard-pressed British taxpayers by selling Royal Mail from under them at mates' rates for Conservative donors, believes deeply and sincerely that the nation's interests would best be served by not being quite so uncompromising with the willingness to compromise. Britain's future in Europe remains reasonably important to the Deputy Conservatives, although it falls short of being red-line material because red lines in the wrong places lead to red boxes in the wrong hands; however, it remains to be seen whether Europe will turn out to be as unimportant as free education, parliamentary reform, indefinite dention of refugees, the protection of the poor and vulnerable, or preserving the NHS and the justice system.