Airstrip One

How they lie to us, again

This is an excellent quote from the Times:

There is a depressing pattern which applies, regardless of the party in power, to Britain¹s position on any major political initiative in the European Union. It is at first denied that any radical new plan exists; it
is then conceded that it exists but ministers swear blind that it is not
even on the political agenda; it is then noted that it might well be on the agenda but is not a serious proposition; it is later conceded that it
is a serious proposition, but that it will never be implemented; after that
it is acknowledged that it will be implemented but in such a diluted form that it could make no difference to the lives of ordinary people; and at some point it is finally recognised that it has made such a difference, but it was always known that it would and voters were told so from the outset.