Cameron could be saddled with blame for Europe's disintegration

NO EUROPEAN leader has ever even attempted to mimic the rhetoric of John F Kennedy in his January 1961 inauguration address. There is no way any European government chief could say: "And so, my fellow Europeans - ask not what Europe can do for you, ask what you can do for Europe."

Perhaps, though, David Cameron, the UK prime minister, was trying to be a trifle Kennedy-esque when, in January 2013, setting out his plans for a referendum on British membership of the European Union, he said, "I don't just want a better deal for Britain. I want a better deal for Europe too."

In the ensuing three years, Mr Cameron's address has taken on a deeper resonance. Partly for reasons that are not of the British prime minister's making, it could mark the descent of a permanent black cloud over Europe.