Parturient Montes, Nascitur Ridiculus Mus

The Lisbon Treaty has finally aborted onto a leadership masthead surely out of a Monty Python lost episode. One should bear in mind that Belgium underwent a year-long leadership crisis only a couple of years ago and the bizarre looking dude Van Rompuy appears to have emerged from the tunnel as the least worst Prime Ministerial candidate

Who better to lead a befuddled and confused EU into the twenty-first century. His Brit backup looks like a role Judi Dench would have passed up in the foreign ministry department. Or actually, if her part as M in Casino Royale is any guide, Dame Dench would be far preferable to a dubious "Baroness" whose only resemblance to Lady Thatcher is by opposites.