Owen Jones at the New Statesman said it is baffling that socialists have been so slow to recognise the threat. “The proposed EU treaty is perhaps the biggest catastrophe to befall the European Left since the Second World War. After this stitch-up, the Left really needs to have a long, hard think about its attitude to the EU as it is currently constructed. There’s still a sense that any criticism of the EU puts you in the same box as swivel-eyed Ukip-ers. It is a travesty that highlighting the EU’s palpable lack of democracy has become a Right wing issue.”