As has been made very clear, the government doesn’t want to hold a referendum on the EU treaty that will usher in the EU Constitution by the back door. But, whatever the government says, the inhabitants of East Stoke, in Dorset, aren’t going to take it lying down. They’ve used a provision in the Local Government Act 1972 to hold a local, parish-wide mini-referendum on whether the UK should have a vote on the matter.

Libertarians must have very grave concerns about the use of referenda. The fact that 51% of the population supports a law doesn’t make it a good law if it hinders the 49% that oppose. Even if 99.9% of this country voted a certain way, it wouldn’t make the other 0.1% wrong, or the actions of the majority any more moral. The smallest minority is the individual, but we’re all individuals, so we all suffer if the minority is ignored.

However, in this case, the government is insistent on not having a referendum for other reasons. They’ve heavily exploited their electoral ’success’ (is winning 35% of a 61% turnout really a success?) to pass fundamentally immoral laws. Now the boot’s on the other foot.

Whatever you think of the European Union itself, the European Constitution must be considered a vile document: enforcing uniformity and destroying the individuality of both countries and persons themselves. A referendum is the only way it can be thrown out, but a sure-fire way of guaranteeing it.

Sadly, we’re not going to get a referendum any time soon, are we? Not on Gordon Brown’s watch. The result is we’re denied a proper chance to throw out this travesty of a constitution, and left supporting mini-referenda in parishes like East Stoke. In Dorset? I certainly do.