The last time I looked, there were about seven billion people on this planet. There are all sorts of candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize. Across the developing world, you will find gaunt and patient aid workers who have consecrated their lives to ending tribal conflicts. There are bone-nosed eco-warriors who are fighting to save the peoples of the rainforest from destruction. There are women who are struggling for female emancipation in Saudi Arabia. In tyrannies from Uzbekistan to North Korea, there are journalists risking their lives so the truth can be heard. There are good people battling every scourge, from famine to gun-running to piracy to human trafficking.

So we can only wonder what madness took hold at the judging lunch the other day, when that committee of Norwegian worthies was asked to appoint this year’s winner of the prize.

Perhaps they were drunk; perhaps it was one of those morose Scandinavian afternoons when the sun has sunk and there is no alternative but to hit the aquavit. Whatever it was, they must have been out of their minds to ignore all human candidates and award the prize to the European Union. And for bringing peace to Europe! You might as well offer recognition to Lance Armstrong for his role in promoting good sportsmanship. You might as well suggest that Sir Jimmy Savile deserves some other posthumous gong for his egregious “charity” work.