Now is not the time to go into the rights and wrongs of the agreement that the Icelandic government cut with the Dutch and British governments over bank deposit insurance (I know you weep with disappointment), but the terms in which the country’s president (the magnificently named Olafur Grimsson) explained what would happen in the aftermath of his decision to veto the deal and put the matter to a referendum are not without a certain resonance:

The cornerstone of Iceland’s constitution is that the nation is the highest judge for the validity of law. . . . Now the nation has the power and the responsibility in its hands.

It’s easy to see that Iceland is not (yet) in the EU.