"Ignorant and hostile"

First you were too stupid to understand the constitution. Now you're "ignorant and hostile" as well.

In their battle to win the "heart and minds", the Europhiles certainly seem to be going out of their way to charm the electorate and, with such skill and tact, it is hard to see how they can possibly lose.

Anyhow, that is the opinion of the EU commission which, according to a report in today’s Daily Telegraph labels voters in Britain as the most "ignorant" about the European Union's prospective constitution.

Based on an opinion poll of nearly 25,000 "EU citizens" - actually, citzens of the EU member states - the commission describes British voters as not only the most hostile to the constitution - with Britain the only country where opponents of the treaty outnumber supporters - but also as among, as it puts it, the most "ignorant".

Just 20 percent of Britons, we are told, support the treaty, a figure matched only by Cyprus, where 23 percent are in favour. Opposition is highest in Britain, at 30 percent - making it the only country at this stage to have more "no" voters than "yes"

The commission, it appears, describes the finding as a "remarkable exception" to the EU average, in which 49 percent of citizens are in favour of the constitution, and 16 percent against. Predictably, the most supportive nations are Italy and Belgium, with more than 70 percent of their voters in favour of the draft treaty.

The commission believes that increased knowledge of the constitution will be matched by increased support for it, saying: "One can see a strong correlation between level of knowledge and support for the text."

On the other hand, Christopher Heaton-Harris, a Conservative MEP, says: "Can you imagine how much worse the figures will look when the British public knows more, and realises the constitution will suck powers away from Britain?"

Didn’t we all know that already? The constitution sucks!

Meanwhile Blithering Bunny has some interesting observations on the EU's opinion poll.