UK government suffers embarrassing Commons defeat as Tory rebels back cut to EU budget contribution

humiliating defeat in the House of Commons last night, as

Conservative MPs rebelled and backed a call for Britain’s contribution to the EU budget to be cut.

• Motion led by Tory rebels passed to impose real-terms cut on EU budget

• David Cameron insists UK will take tough stance on EU budget negotiations

MPs voted 307 to 294 in favour of an amendment put forward by Tory MP Mark Reckless, torpedoing the Prime Minister’s authority as, yet again, the issue of Europe emerged as a fault-line within his party.

The significant defeat for the Government came despite the Prime Minister’s insistence that he was taking a tough stance over budget negotiations.

Mr Cameron had earlier said he would veto any real-terms rise in the 2014-20 “multi-annual financial framework”.

But that pledge to fight the EU’s

demands for a 5 per cent increase, which would cost the UK an extra £10 billion over seven years, ultimately failed to convince a decisive majority. A total of 53 Conservative MPs defied the party whips to support the amendment.

The announcement of the result was greeted with loud cheers from the Tory benches. Mr Cameron’s defeat leaves him having to defy the will of the Commons at this month’s EU summit if he is to push ahead with his desire to veto any real-terms rise in the 2014-20 settlement, rather than demand cuts.

The revolt was a fresh reminder to the Prime Minister that he has a long way to go in overcoming two decades of internal division and rebellion over the issue of Europe.

Mr Cameron had earlier attempted to rally his party, saying: “At best we would like it [the budget] cut, at worst frozen, and I’m quite prepared to use the veto if we don’t get a deal which is good for

Britain.”

The European Commission has

proposed an £826bn budget ceiling for the 2014-20 period.

Treasury minister Greg Clark pleaded with MPs to support the Prime Minister as he went to

Europe to “bat for Britain” over the seven-year spending plan.

But Labour MPs lined up behind the Tory rebels in calling for the Government to support nothing less than a real-terms budget cut.

Shadow chancellor Ed Balls made quite clear Labour’s joy at the bruising blow Mr Cameron suffered.

He said: “This is a humiliating defeat for David Cameron which shows how weak and out of touch he has become.

“The Prime Minister wanted to say the EU budget should rise in line with inflation, but has been forced by Labour MPs and his own back-benchers to seek a real-terms cut.”

The EU budget will automatically rise by 2 per cent if no deal is signed by the end of next year.

Although the result of the vote is not binding, it is still a major embarrassment for

ministers.

Tory Sir Tony Baldry pleaded for party unity in the wake of the rebellion.

He said: “Colleagues on this side of the House have a choice. We are either going to support the Prime Minister or not support the Prime Minister, and if colleagues are not prepared to support the Prime Minister, every time they go into a division lobby different to that of the Prime Minister, they are weakening the Prime Minister’s negotiating hand in Europe.”

Sir Tony reminded party colleagues the Major government had been weakened by fellow Tories “persistently” voting against the administration during the 1990s.

Mr Reckless, who presented the amendment, said many of his constituents could not understand why, when there were cuts to budgets in the UK’s public services, the EU was getting a larger budget.

He said: “If there are inflationary increases as the Government proposes, we are looking at a net contribution going from £9.2bn last year to £13.6bn at the end of the process.

“We simply cannot, cannot

afford that.”

Labour leader Ed Miliband had earlier questioned the leadership credentials of his Tory counterpart ahead of the vote.

He claimed Mr Cameron had already given up the fight, saying: “Last year he flounced out of the December negotiations with a veto and the agreement went ahead anyway. “He has thrown in the towel even before these negotiations have begun. He can’t convince European leaders, he can’t even convince his own back-benchers.

“He is weak abroad, he is weak at home: it’s John Major all over again.”

But Mr Cameron said the leader of the opposition was “playing politics, not serving the country”.

Other Tories joined in, accusing Labour of “rank opportunism” and hypocrisy for supporting the cut after presiding over increases in the EU budget while in government.

Europe minister David Lidington said the disagreement on the Conservative benches had been more about “tactics” than

substance.

He rejected claims that Mr Cameron’s position had been weakened, pointing out the Prime Minister had set his aspirations high by asking for something that no British leader had ever achieved in the past.

Mr Lidington said: “David Cameron needs to be applauded for taking the toughest line of any British prime minister in the 40 years since we joined

the EU.

“He is allied with a number of other powerful countries in the EU, determined to secure much better value for their taxpayers’ money and to secure real restraint and discipline on European spending.”