The Green party has a lot to answer for - including the backdoor Tory victory in my home constituency of Shipley. The previous Labour MP, Chris Leslie, was defeated by only 400 votes - while the Greens managed to garner 1800, almost entirely from Labour voters.

The result? We've ended up with an MP from a party that's far less environmentally minded than Labour, having consistently opposed environmental legislation in both Westminster and the European Parliament. Green voters in Shipley must be kicking themselves.

Good news: the Greens have added their name to the list of political parties from across Europe which endorse the new constitutional treaty. The Green group in the European Parliament had already decided to support the constitution, and now this position has been confirmed by an overwhelming majority by the Council of the European Green Party.

This article (posted by the Maltese Greens) explains the reasons behind their support:

"The Council of the European Green Party:

"1. Taking the text of the draft treaty that was decided upon unanimously by the heads of government and state of the 25 Member States;

"2. Supports the Green Group's resolution and accordingly considers that this TCE makes significant improvements in relation to the existing Treaties which it would replace, in particular regarding the extension of supranational parliamentary democracy and the consolidation of the aims of sustainable development, social solidarity and full employment."

So the constitution now has the wholehearted support of all mainstream parties across the EU: the conservatives and Christian Democrats, socialists and social democrats, liberals and Greens.

This expression of support from all across Europe contrasts sharply with the negative position adopted by the UK Green party. In the light of their colleagues' ringing endorsement, our own Greens look curiously isolated.

In the past, they tried to suggest that the new constitution is somehow unacceptable to Green politicians. This claim has now been blown out of the water completely as their sister parties from across the EU have rallied around it.

I can’t imagine why the UK contingent should insist on taking such a negative line – unless they are trying to score quick political points at home from the UK’s Eurosceptic tabloids. I wonder how they explain this to their colleagues from other countries?