I didn't go earlier because I don't like crowds !!

Brown belatedly signs EU treaty

Critics claim the treaty means Britain surrenders power to Brussels

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has belatedly signed the EU reform treaty, having missed a ceremony attended by leaders of the 26 other member states.

Mr Brown delayed his trip to Lisbon so he could appear before a Commons select committee scrutinising his government.

He promised the committee there would be a full debate in Parliament on the 250-page text but no referendum.

The Conservatives said Mr Brown's "diary clash" did not reflect well on him, making him appear "gutless".

"If he believes this treaty is the right thing for the country then he ought to have the guts to go to the actual signing ceremony," Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague told BBC News 24.

He's behaving rather childishly Kenneth Clarke Former Conservative chancellor EU leaders sign treaty

"We had this chronic indecision in Downing Street about what the prime minister would do. I don't think that's a very good advertisement for prime ministerial decision-making."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7141279.stm