The EU Reform Treaty - a big step towards the exit?

Those who think that Britain's interests are best served by going along with this latest extension of EU powers (and even Tony Blair admitted that this is an extension of those powers) need to consider this:

Each time that we hand powers to Europe, more people join the group who think that we have handed over too much already. On this occasion, any hope of clawing back some of those powers is being quashed, through the extension of qualified majority voting to so many areas. And a specific exit-route is being prepared to tempt those who aren't sure whether we should stay.

By making it difficult to sustain the argument that we can renegotiate our relationship with Europe, recover powers, or improve Europe from within, the Treaty forces people towards one of two extreme positions - ever-closer union or withdrawal. Those who can't stomach closer union but might previously have looked for a middle option of continued membership without further extension of powers, may see their only option as being that exit-route that our "partners" have helpfully put together for us.

This treaty may well bring closer the day when Britain leaves the EU, even if the majority would rather have stayed in a looser affiliation of nation states within a common market.