Express.
DAVID Cameron will come under pressure this week to block a fresh European Union bid to grab £40billion for its budget.Cameron has already wound his backbenchers up with his heavy handed control freakery on the referendum debate and now has to go cap in hand to the commons to ask them to cough up for the EU (or else, I'm certain there's an or else) He'll need the support of the Lib Dems (normally a given on the EU) and quite possibly the treacherous Labour party and even then I suspect he's not going to get it, nor will he be able to repatriate powers back from the EU as he doesn't seem to know which powers he wants back (Hint, all of them Dave)
Eurosceptic MPs say they will try to force the Prime Minister to use his veto to stop the increase which would saddle British taxpayers with a colossal bill for the rest of this decade.
MPs will have the chance to debate proposals that would increase the EU’s budget for seven years covering 2014-2020 to one trillion euros (£898 billion).
It would amount to a 4.9 per cent rise on the funding for 2007-2013 – a rise of some £40billion.
Britain, France and Germany all say the budget increase, proposed by the European Commission, is unacceptably high.
It comes a week after 81 Conservatives rebelled against the PM to back a call for a referendum on UK membership of the European Union.
The Commons will be asked to back a Government motion that supports ministers’ “ongoing efforts to reduce the commission’s proposed budget”.
But it is likely that Tory MPs will demand that Britain uses its veto to block the increase.
Chris Heaton-Harris, one of the Tory referendum rebels, said: “Voters realise that if the EU’s budget goes up at a time when national governments are imposing cuts, then something is going wrong.”
Mr Cameron is already under massive pressure over Britain’s membership of the European Union.
Polls have suggested that two-thirds of the public – and 80 per cent of Tory voters – agreed with the referendum revolt last week.
Philip Hollobone, also one of the 81 rebels, said: “Many backbenchers think that the seven-year EU budget is a very good opportunity for the government to use its veto if it does not get what it wants.”
I'm fairly sure now we're approaching the straw/camels back moment, though it will be interesting (from a watching a train crash perspective) on just how badly the damage will be before it does collapse and the Germans finally invade France (again).
We are living in interesting times.
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