The bill to ratify the EU's Treaty of Nice was given its third reading by MPs yesterday. Foreign Office minister Peter Hain said it would make the EU more flexible and said it was essential for enlargement to proceed. "This is the only show in town," said Hain.

The Conservatives voted against the bill, with shadow foreign secretary Michael Ancram saying they opposed its agenda of political integration. But former Tory minister Robert Jackson voted with the government, while several other pro-Europe Conservatives absented themselves from the vote, despite a three-line whip.