Tuesday 27 November 2012

Yesterday's EU debate and praise from the Germans!

The Prime Minister had a tough message for the EU: "No government I lead will ever put that British rebate back up for negotiation," he told us in the House of Commons.  "When it came to the bureaucratic costs of the European Commission, not a single euro in administrative savings was offered, not one euro. We need to cut unaffordable spending. The deal on the table was just not good enough and that is why we, and others, rejected it."All in all it was a tough stance on protecting the British taxpayer and one I welcome. I was able to ask my own question of the PM:
Guy Opperman (Hexham, Conservative)
"People in Northumberland will be delighted that it is this Government who are keeping the rebate, stopping the budget rise, and working with the fiscal sensibles in Sweden, Holland and Germany. Does the Prime Minister agree that fiscal restraint and constraint are gradually becoming the prevailing argument in Europe?"

David Cameron, The Prime Minster: "My hon. Friend makes an important point. We must work hard to keep this alliance together, because there are many countries and parties in Europe that want to see an even bigger EU budget. Sadly, that includes the socialist party, which Labour belongs to. It is campaigning and fighting for an increase in the budget. This is what the leader of the European socialists says: “If the EU budget is decided on the basis of Van Rompuy’s latest proposal—or an even worse compromise—it will be a budget of broken promises.
That is the policy that Labour is signed up to, and it is only this Government who are preventing it from happening".

The Mail had a good review of the fact that lots of the German Papers are thanking David Cameon for standing up to the French and others who wanted to spend more money:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2238890/Gott-Himmel-Mr-Cameron-s-European-crisis-passed.html

I particularly liked the earlier answer the PM gave on this point:
"there is an opportunity for a change in Britain’s relationship with the European Union. That is why I have talked about a new settlement and fresh consent for that settlement... I hope that he is a regular reader of Der Spiegel online, because after the Council it said:
“Danke Grossbritannien…you’ve given hope to many people suffering under the terror of EU bureaucracy”.