It rises from the dead....

No matter what the voters say, the EU constitution will never die.

Federalist European leaders insisted last night that the EU constitution had risen from the dead after voters in the tiny Grand Duchy of Luxembourg approved it in a referendum.

The Yes camp won by 56 to 44 per cent, making Luxembourg the 13th country to ratify the constitution.

A majority of the European Union's 25 nations have now ratified the treaty, noted the president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, with "great satisfaction".

Of course, the Prime Minister had to threaten to resign if the referendum failed....