In politics, it is the fate of the paranoid not to realise when they are winning. That is the moral of Westminster's sulky reaction to a European Union Bill, due to be unveiled on November 11th. At its heart lies a European "referendum lock": a pledge to hold a popular vote on any transfer of further powers from Britain to the European Union. Conservative mps who distrust the Eu-ie, most of them-seem glumly certain that the referendum lock is a piffling idea, a gimmick that will do little to defend British interests. "Milk and water...a million miles away from what is required," grumbles Bill Cash, a dogged (indeed relentless) Tory Eurosceptic who chairs the House of Commons European scrutiny committee.
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