SO it's not just us. Yesterday Geoff Hoon treated Parliament and Britain with precisely the same contempt he showered on North Yorkshire during his whistlestop visit last week.

With breathtaking arrogance he offered his "preliminary agreement" to America's request to use RAF Fylingdales for missile defence.

It is not the decision that shocks. We always knew this Government wanted to say yes. For years, ministers hid their eagerness to do America's bidding behind the specious facade that there had been no "formal request" by Washington to upgrade Fylingdales.

When we suggested to the Defence Secretary that this tactic had suppressed debate, he told us we were "very nave". In Mr Hoon's eyes, that is a character flaw shared by the entire British people.

How nave he must think us for believing that the consultation process had any meaning. How gullible we were to swallow his promise of a proper debate.

How green are the members of the Commons Defence Committee, who assumed that their investigation into missile defence would be taken seriously by the Government.

Why should we have thought for a moment that our say counted? After all, the Government chose to ignore the hundreds of readers who signed our petition against Son of Star Wars (while the Americans issued a prompt and detailed reply). It has also dismissed the doubts of our European allies.

Eight Parliamentary days. That was all Mr Hoon could bear to wait before saying yes to the US.

The Fylingdales upgrade will be completed before the end of the year. Then, no doubt, the US will be given clearance to deliver more missile defence hardware to its European military base, better known as the UK.

Will it ever work? We do not know. How much will it cost? The Government won't tell us. Will it make Britain more of a target to terrorists and rogue states? Many experts think so.

Can we do anything about it? Yes. Call us nave, but we still believe in the democratic right to protest.

Updated: 11:49 Thursday, January 16, 2003