David Cameron yesterday slapped down a claim by Nick Clegg that Britain would one day sign up to the EU treaty he vetoed.
The Deputy Prime Minister said it would be accepted by the Government «in due course».
But the Prime Minister told MPs there was no chance of him changing his mind.
He said: «The situation is very straightforward. We did not sign the treaty because we did not get the safeguards that we received so that situation is not going to change.
«What our coalition partners put into the manifesto at the next election is entirely up to them.»
Mr Cameron’s remarks came as a draft treaty, agreed by the 26 European leaders who chose to forge ahead without the UK, emerged with significant concessions for Britain.
A leaked draft of the treaty changes that leaders will try to agree at the summit on January 30 shows that controversial reforms of the single market — which Britain has furiously campaigned to stop — have been left out.
Mr Cameron argued the single market — which gives British companies the same rights as other European firms looking for work in the EU — should not be tampered with, while Britain is excluded from discussions.
Meanwhile, the Chancellor George Osborne told MPs at the Treasury Select Committee yesterday that Britain was «prepared to consider» extra funding for the International Monetary Fund to help struggling Eurozone countries.
Mr Osborne said as long as other nations were included in the contribution he would consider increasing the UK’s contribution — but slammed the idea of a «unilateral» contribution from EU nations.
The Chancellor also issued a sharp warning to the banks against making big bonus payouts this year. Mr Osborne said industry had not had «a particularly successful year» which should be reflected in the level of the awards.
Giving evidence to the Commons Treasury Committee, he said he would be taking a «keen interest» in the bonuses paid by the part state-owned Royal Bank of Scotland.
«I am clear that — given the fact that this has not been a particularly successful year for banking — you would expect to see bonuses lower this year,» he told the committee.
12/21/2011
— Filed under: Politics
Tags: David Cameron, Nick Clegg
Read more: Cigarrettes online
David Cameron was accused yesterday of giving an «incomplete account» to MPs by failing to admit that the Conservatives agreed to British involvement in a controversial EU bail-out fund.
03/14/2011
— Filed under: Finance
Tags: David Cameron, EU
David Cameron pledged to block demands from Brussels for a six per cent rise in the EU budget
10/19/2010
— Filed under: Finance
Tags: budget, David Cameron, UK
Britain’s Conservatives and Labor parties vied for support of the nation’s smaller parties Friday after an election failed to produce an outright winner for the first time in almost 40 years.
The uncertainty of a «hung parliament» left Britain with the potential of a prolonged political and financial crisis as parties haggled over alliances and Britons debated the need for a new election.
David Cameron’s opposition Conservatives won the most seats at 292 but are short of a clear majority of 326, creating the first hung parliament since 1974.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown, as the incumbent leader of the government, traditionally would have the first shot at forming a new administration, but his ruling Labor party only has 251 seats.
Brown’s hopes of staying in power were dented by Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, who surprised Britain by saying the party that had gained the most seats and the most votes should have «the first right to seek to govern.»
«I think it is now for the Conservative Party to prove that it is capable of seeking to govern in the national interest,» saud Clegg, whose party won 52 seats.
Clegg’s Liberal Democrats are generally seen as a better coalition fit with Brown’s left-of-center Labor Party and it was not immediately clear why Clegg seemed to be shifting alliances.
That raises the previously unlikely possibility of the center-right Conservatives, or Tories, teaming up with the Liberal Democrats.
The two parties are poles apart on many issues, with the Liberal Democrats’ electoral reform policies rejected by the Tories, while Clegg’s party is pro-European, which is anathema to the Conservatives.
Even if Labor were to team up with the Liberal Democrats, who have 52 seats, they would be well short of the magic 326 figure, meaning they may also need to bring on board smaller parties such as Scottish and Welsh nationalists.
Brown vowed to «play my part in Britain having a strong, stable» government and indicated he would seek an alliance with the Liberal Democrats, pledging action on election reform — a key demand of his would-be partners.
Days, possibly weeks, of political horse-trading involving a large number of parties with conflicting interests loomed ahead.
The uncertain election leaves British leadership in limbo and creates potential chaos in financial markets. As the pound fell sharply, pressure mounted for a quick solution.
«There’s a limit to how long can that this go on,» said Victoria Honeyman, a lecturer in politics at the University of Leeds. «The pound will start to crash.»
In London, bond trading started in the middle of the night — six hours earlier than normal — as traders tried to make sense of the election results. Britain’s main stock index also dropped as investors reacted to the inconclusive result against a backdrop of global market turbulence.
The last time Britain elected a hung parliament, in February 1974, a second election was called in October of that year.
Oxford elections expert David Butler predicted a similar scenario this time «because I don’t see the compromises that are necessary for a coalition.»
Informal talks between the parties were said to have started with Queen Elizabeth monitoring events.
The period of political confusion could unsettle global markets already reeling from the Greek debt crisis and fears of wider debt contagion in Europe. Britain’s budget gap is expected to eclipse that of Greece next year, and whoever winds up in power faces the daunting challenge of introducing big government spending cuts to slash the country’s huge deficit.
Under Brown, who took over from Tony Blair three years ago, Britain’s economy has run into hard times. At least 1,3 million people have been laid off and tens of thousands have lost their homes in a crushing recession.
06/2/2010
— Filed under: Politics
Tags: Conservative Party, David Cameron, Parliament
