Gary Cartwright

As I predicted , the European Parliament yesterday passed the Carnero Gonzalez report on the adoption of EU symbols. So now we have  a new national anthem, although I understand it hasn’t actually been written yet, which means that MEPs will have to hum along to Ode to Joy, in the style of the English football squad before a match.

As expected, most British Labour and Lib Dem MEPs supported this proposal, with the Tories and UKIP voting against. One abberation that does stick out, however, is Tory Christopher Beazley who supported the idea.

Eurosceptics will point to this as another example of the Tories saying one thing at home, and quietly doing the opposite in Brussels. I think, however, that the story here is the way in which the Conservative delegation has fractured, at a time when they should be getting into electioneering mode. It is not the first time that the Tory whip has failed to hold his members together during voting.

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