Labour supported the Conservatives in opposing the appointment of Jean-Claude Juncker to President of the European Commission. As a federalist, they were also unwilling to support further integration. Yet the headlines of "Britain isolated" brought some rich comments from Ed Balls on television this morning. As he stated, never had he seen such a "cack-handed" negotiation. (This seemed rather surprising, since there are so many examples from the previous Labour administration: General Practitioners, Treaty of Lisbon, etc etc).
Whilst the news from the continental press remains quiet in the aftermath of this repeat (Britain versus the rest), Labour's opportunistic spin falls on sterile ground, given the messenger (just as Cruddas bemoans his leader's leadership in the Sunday Times). The two initial conclusions from the appointment of Juncker is that there is no European constituency for the repatriation of powers and the appetite for real reform is retreating.
Given the choice between ever closer la la land and reality, the European Council chose a make-believe country called Europe and took the brakes off Brexit.