But they pressed on regardless — cloggingup parliament with petty, partisan measures to clip the wings of trade unions,remove public funds from opposition parties, slash tax credits, grant tax bungsto their wealthy supporters and fiddle with constituency boundaries to cementtheir electoral advantage.
但是他们开始变得激进，通过鸡毛蒜皮的小事阻塞国会，利用政党手段来阻碍工会的正常运营，移除敌对政党的公共基金，猛砍税收减免，利用“税收阻塞”来帮助资助他们的财团减税，通过玩弄选民的底线来巩固他们的选举优势。
After Mr Osborne’s first budget unravelled I expected that theywould tread more carefully. But still they pressed on — and the chancellor’s second budget was alsoeviscerated in the face of parliamentary opposition.
在乔治奥斯本（英国财务大臣）财政预算被驳回的时候, 我希望他们能更加小心谨慎。但是他们依旧不知悔改。这位财政大臣的第二个财政预算方案依旧遭到国会的反对被驳回。
But their greatest failing was this: havingspent two decades striking poses as Eurosceptics to curry favour with theirparty they believed that they could change their tune in the last second of theeleventh hour in the referendum.
但他们最大的失败在于：为了党派的利益，花费20年摆出鄙视欧洲的样子，却相信他们可以在公投的最后一秒改变他们的形象。
Voters are not stupid. I met many people inmy own constituency in Sheffield who refused to follow Messrs Cameron orOsborne because they had been told the exact opposite by them for years.
选民们并不傻，我在自己的选区谢菲尔德和很多人交谈过，他们拒绝听从卡梅隆和奥斯本，因为他们多年被告知的都是完全相反的内容。
Like all pro-Europeans, I sought to helpthe No 10-led referendum campaign — providing private advice and publicsupport. But as the campaign wore on, it became clear that the prime ministerand his chancellor were prisoners of their past: having spent so many yearsdenigrating the EU, it was impossible for them to make a positive case.
就像所有的亲欧人士，我试图帮助全民投票的宣传阵营，为他们提供私人建议和公共支持。但是随着宣传的进行，我越发觉得卡梅伦首相和他的大臣反而变成了自己曾经所作所为的“囚徒”，他们以前花了太多时间来说欧盟的坏话，这样不可能给投票者留下积极的影响。
They were condemned to make a negative case— the EU is not great, but leaving would be worse — which lacked any emotionalimpact, culminating in the dismal “punishment budget” proposed by Mr Osbornelast week.
“欧盟并不好，但离开欧盟会更糟”，这缺乏任何情感上的影响，最终导致上周奥斯本提出的令人沮丧的“惩罚预算”。这是他们自己所要吞食的恶果。
I feel for Mr Cameron and his family today— as I know well, abrupt defeat is not easy. My head is less forgiving. His andMr Osborne’s fair-weather approach to Britain’s vital national interests inEurope has let future generations down.
我替卡梅隆和他的家人感到难过，我很清楚，接受突如其来的失败一点都不容易。但我并不能宽恕他们，他和奥斯本先生对英国在欧洲至关重要的国家利益所采取的政策会让未来几代人大失所望。
The message for internationalist,pro-European politicians in all parties is clear: we must never again allow ournational interest to be hijacked by internal party feuds; we must take on thepopulists who only know how to destroy the links that bind nations together; wemust work across parties to safeguard the Britain we believe in — a greatpeople engaged with, not divorced from, our own European continent.
我想对国际主义者、各党派中的亲欧政治家们说的是，我们绝不能再让我们的国家利益被党内争斗所绑架，我们必须迎战那些只知道摧毁国家凝聚力的民粹人士，我们必须超越党派相互合作，捍卫我们深爱的大不列颠——我们相信英国当与整个欧洲融为一体，不可踽踽独行。
The writer, former leader of the LiberalDemocrats, was deputy prime minister in the 2010-15 coalition government
作者是自由民主党的前任领导人， 2010-15联合政府的副总理。
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