Here are a few quotes from newly-elected President of Europe, Jean-Claude Juncker: “The Constitutional Treaty was an easily understandable treaty. This is a simplified treaty which is very complicated.”

“Of course there will be transfers of sovereignty. But would I be intelligent to draw the attention of public opinion to this fact?”

“We should discuss this in secret in the Eurogroup. I’m ready to be insulted as being insufficiently democratic, but I am for secret, dark debates…”

“We decide on something, leave it lying around and wait and see what happens. If no-one kicks up a fuss, because most people don’t understand what has been decided, we continue step by step until there is no turning back.”

“When it becomes serious, you have to lie.”

Can anyone doubt David Cameron’s wisdom in resolutely opposing the election of this Euro-federalist former prime minister of a country rather smaller than Manchester? Think of the fuss if he had not done so.

It’s just a shame that the other EU countries cannot see that this election takes us off at breakneck speed down a dead-end street, the end result of which must be Britain’s exit from the EU, and therefore the fundamental undermining and weakening of the EU itself.

Nothing short of a fundamental renegotiation of the entire structure and architecture of the bloated bureaucratic empire which the Common Market has become will be sufficient. But the Juncker episode makes it look pretty unlikely that the Europeans will allow any such renegotiation.

And if they do not, I will campaign hard for the UK to leave the EU in the 2017 referendum.

We all want free and fair trade with neighbouring European countries. But that is all we want. And if Mr Juncker is dead set on recreating some kind of pan-European empire, then we Brits want no part of it.

The Holy Roman emperors, Napoleon, Bismarck, and Hitler tried it. And now, in the same category, if perhaps without the same historic status, Jean-Claude Juncker.

We Brits opposed all of those empires, and we want nothing to do with Mr Juncker’s latest attempt.

We are a proud, independent nation state.

We will always trade across the globe, without bureaucratic interference from Mr Juncker.

As the great Margaret Thatcher said: “No. No. NO.”