I have a dark secret which I must confess to my wife. According to Europe Minister Dennis MacShane, those of us who oppose the single currency and the European Constitution are xenophobic little Englanders. I am utterly opposed to both and to the idea of a single European state run by an unelected elite in Brussels which is the inevitable outcome. This must made my very xenophobic indeed.

The OED defines xenophobia as "an irrational fear or dislike of people from other countries." I had better own up quickly to this as my wife's Hungarian parents are arriving tomorrow to spend a few days under our roof! She may also want to cancel the Hungarian lessons I am taking. I am comforted slightly by the thought that she might also have to confess to dark feelings of hatred towards foreigners since she persists in thinking that her native land would be better governed from Budapest than from Brussels.

Maybe instead we could simply agree that Mr MacShane "yn siariad lol" as we Welsh speaking little Englanders are wont to say.