50 years on from the EU's inception, the Brussels technocrats have got their way. Despite much of Europe denied any direct say (thanks to Governments such as the UK refusing to hold a referendum) the EU Lisbon Treaty has now been approved. With this treaty come the new posts of EU President and EU High Representative - proof (if still required) that this new Treaty is far more than a mere tidying up exercise compared with an EU constitution.

Gordon Brown said we should be proud that a Briton, Baroness Ashton of Uphalland, (someone who has never held an elected position in her life), is now the EU's 'Foreign Minister'. She was in fact the fourth choice compromise candidate, who, along with another unknown, the Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy, have now been plunged, unelected, into the European limelight to 'represent' 500 million people on the world's stage. Hardly the charismatic leaders that, in David Milliband's words, will 'stop the traffic'.

Baroness Ashton's promotion means that Britain no longer has a European Commissioner tasked with responsibility for Britain's financial services industry. This responsibility has fallen to a Frenchman Michel Barnier who shows little interest in the City and is expected to implement unpopular regulations making London less attractive to do business with.

Aside from the gross lack of transparency in the selection of such powerful positions, the fundamental question remains: do we really need a treaty which will cede even greater powers from sovereign states to Brussels? It is for this reason that a Conservative Government will introduce a Sovereignty Act to make clear that ultimate authority stays in this country, in our Parliament.

The Founding Fathers of the United States can look at that country today with pride and satisfaction as to how those original values, freedoms and vision have stood the test of time. The same cannot be said for the European Union, now fifty years on from the formation of the European Economic Community and pursuing a very different, more complex and bureaucratic agenda than the simple common market created in 1958.