THERE is a taboo word in Brussels which should probably only be used between consenting adults in private.

That word is ‘Patriotism’.

There wasn’t much sign of it recently when the LibDem MEP for this area Catherine Bearder, together with philosopher A C Grayling, had a ‘secret’ meeting with Guy Verhofstadt.

They asked him to persuade the EU negotiators to be even more obstructive and bloody-minded than they have been so far. She said: “We are proud to be saboteurs.”

Surely encouraging hostility to one’s own nation’s representatives is tantamount to treason.

Brian Mercer, Barlows Lane, Andover.