The only person so far to have come out of the demeaning fracas in Strasbourg with any credit is José Manuel Durão Barroso, the incoming President of the European commission. His principled insistence that he “cannot surrender to a culture of intolerance” is a fitting reply to the baying in the European Parliament for the removal of Rocco Buttiglione from the justice and home affairs portfolio in the commission. Senhor Barroso has already done more than he need to defuse the crisis. He has promised to set up a panel to share responsibility with the commissioner for fighting racial and sexual prejudice; he has distanced himself from Signor Buttiglione’s ill-conceived call for transit camps in North Africa for asylum-seekers; and he has said that his team is ready to meet the views of Parliament halfway.

In the end, however, Senhor Barroso has been forced, like Martin Luther, to declare: “Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise.” To remove Signor Buttiglione at this stage would not only, as he said, create more problems than it resolved; it would be a capitulation to the prejudice and ambition of MEPs riding a crest of political correctness to raise their own deservedly low profile, bolster their weak claims to be taken seriously and score points in a grudge match against certain EU member states and their leaders, in particular Silvio Berlusconi.

Certainly, none of the MEPs seeking to reject the entire commission can justify such an extreme step on the basis of their aversion to Signor Buttiglione’s views. The Italian nominee is a senior, respected politician. A convinced Roman Catholic, he holds views on homosexuality and the role of women in the home that are controversial but in accordance with his religious views. But he has made it perfectly clear that he would do his job according to EU human rights legislation rather than his personal beliefs. He can certainly be accused of insensitivity and lack of political nous.

The suspicion must arise that Martin Schulz, the German Socialist group leader notorious for goading Signor Berlusconi into his ridiculous outburst last year, sees the Buttiglione row as a cheap way of humiliating the Italian Prime Minister. For Herr Schulz to use “tolerance” as a cover for intolerance is intolerable. Such a course is not only crass and vindictive; it would also set a precedent that could be used against any national leader who fell foul of political correctness in Strasbourg. That is why Tony Blair and other EU leaders have urged MEPs not to vote against the new commission today — not simply because this would cause constitutional deadlock, but also because it would, in the end, be a Pyrrhic victory ensuring permanent confrontation between mediocre MEPs and national governments.

MEPs, some of whom are notable only for their irrelevance to most voters, cannot raise their low standing by pique, power games and hypocrisy. Only an adult attitude to their role and to the generally impressive incoming commission will regain the respect they have squandered across the Union they claim to represent.