Tory MPs demand real-terms budget cut for Europe

The Prime Minister has been fighting proposals from the European Commission that would see a five per cent hike over the next seven years. Instead, he wants spending to rise only in line with inflation – currently around two per cent

But Mr Cameron is set to come under intense pressure from his own side and the Opposition tomorrow when the Commons debates the government negotiating strategy for next month’s crunch EU summit.

Conservative MPs Mark Reckless and Mark Pritchard are tabling an amendment insisting that any budget rises should be below inflation. Senior backbenchers John Redwood and Bill Cash are also believed to be among those backing the text.

Mr Pritchard, who played a prominent role when 81 rebels voted for a referendum on Europe last year, said Mr Cameron should be ready to show “real fiscal leadership” and wield the veto.

“At a time of fiscal restraint for both families in the UK and families throughout the EU, it is unacceptable that there should be any increase in the EU budget,” he said.

“The EU is a wasteful and profligate entity which needs to find savings rather than new ways to spend UK taxpayers’ money.

“The Prime Minister needs to show real fiscal leadership on this issue and be prepared to exercise his veto if the EU do not listen.”

Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls and Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander used an article in The Times yesterday to say that, like the governments of its 27 member states, the EU should accept that it must cut spending in the current austere economic conditions.

“The crisis in the eurozone and a chronic lack of growth across the continent mean that EU resources are stretched and priorities must be revised,” they wrote.

“The challenge for the EU, as for national governments, is to cut spending in a way that is both fair and supports rather than stifles jobs and growth.”

Mr Balls and Mr Alexander said an independent EU auditor should be appointed to review every aspect of spending for its impact on promoting growth in member states.

But they said that Mr Cameron was not in a position to deliver the best outcomes for the UK. “As a result of David Cameron’s behaviour, those we used to call friends now ridicule the Prime Minister in meetings, shut him out of negotiations and bad-mouth him to the press.”

However, Labour leader Ed Miliband sidestepped questions about whether he would vote against the Government tomorrow.

“We will look at anything that comes forward in terms of votes,” he said during a question-and-answer session after a speech about mental health yesterday.

Asked whether he was now a Eurosceptic, he said: “No.”

Downing Street insisted the Government was already taking a tough line on the budget – suggesting it would be unrealistic to expect more.