mr president we are generally encouraged to regard nationalism as arbitrary transient and faintly discreditable but when it is euro- nationalism we take a completely different attitude and we are invited to revel in the emblems and trappings of statehood a flag an anthem a national day and all the rest of it
i take particular exception to the appropriation of beethoven's ninth symphony as the european anthem which we are now all expected to stand to attention to
i am afraid it has rather the same effect on me as it has on alex in and for the same reasons namely that it has bad connotations
but the point i want to make is this the sole and rather token change that was made to the european constitution when it was turned into the lisbon treaty was the removal of these european national symbols
in unilaterally putting them back in this parliament this ageing and decrepit parliament is flicking two liver-stained and liver-spotted fingers at the electorates who rejected that european constitution
if you want these symbols to have binding force have the courage to put it to the people in a referendum
