International

Precisely a year after the Dutch people voted to say ‘No’ to the European Constitution, members of the SP cycling team took the rejected document on a symbolic journey back to Brussels. Member of Parliament and European affairs spokesman Harry van Bommel, leader of last year's No-campaign, accompanied it this morning on the first stage of its journey. “The European constitution was declared dead by the Netherlands and France,” said Harry as he set off from The Hague, “but numerous people in Brussels continue to insist on trying to resuscitate it. We want to make it clear that the ‘No’ wasn't some kind of take-it-or-leave-it advice, but a solid rejection of the EU's present appalling direction.”

Afghanistan remains priority number 1 for NATO. The alliance cannot afford to fail, and member states must therefore provide the necessary resources and allow the soldiers on the ground to engage in armed conflict with rebels and not force them to restrict themselves to “peace keeping”. This was the message which NATO Secretary General and General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and General James Jones, commander-in-chief of NATO forces in Europe, presented to the alliance's parliamentary assembly when it gathered this week in Paris.