The Staggers

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Cameron's EU veto: "conspiracy or cock up?"

The PM is confident because his stance is popular. But some MPs are querying whether the whole thing was stage-managed.

By Rafael Behr Published 12 December 2011 18:16

The House of Commons was on predictably raucous form for the Prime Minister's statement on last week's European summit. It isn't always a forum in which the best arguments win. Often they are trumped by the most bravura performance, the readiest wit or the exuberance of the backbenches.

On this occasion, the seriousness of the issue just about managed to cut through the roiling theatrics. Cameron pitched his statement soberly, clearly mindful of being seen to revel in the anti-Brussels triumphalism that was bubbling away behind him. He didn't need to worry about sparing Nick Clegg's blushes though. The Deputy Prime Minister wasn't there. Cameron's message was simple enough: the deal on offer wasn't good for Britain, so he didn't sign.

That claim was dismantled by Ed Miliband. Nothing had been vetoed that cannot proceed anyway, no safeguards were secured and all that was achieved was Britain's marginalisation. It wasn't a barnstorming performance, but it had the solid virtue of describing the truth.

The message was reinforced by needle-sharp questions from two former foreign secretaries, David Miliband and Jack Straw, probing the Prime Minister on the detail of what exactly it is that was under threat before last Thursday, and how exactly the threat has now been averted. Cameron couldn't answer.

Outside parliament, though, It doesn't really matter much. The Prime Minister's strongest line was also his most predictable one: would Miliband have signed or not? "You can't lead if you can't decide". It was a neat barb, crafted to reinforce No. 10's central strategic line of attack against the Labour leader -- that he is not a credible alternative PM.

Ultimately, Cameron is confident because his stance is popular. He is casting himself as the PM who finally said "no" to Brussels and, according to opinion polls, it is working.

That domestic political advantage (which has the added benefit of averting a rebellion on his backbenches and diminishing the threat of a Ukip upset in next week's Feltham by-election) has led a number of Labour MPs to query whether Cameron might have planned the whole thing. The theory doing the rounds is that he deliberately tabled impossible demands in Brussels to engineer a veto.

Just before the statement, I spoke to one shadow minister who put the question pretty bluntly. "Is it conspiracy or is it cock up?"

If it is the former, the Lib Dems will have been most royally stitched-up. Perhaps suspicion along those lines is what kept Clegg out of the chamber.

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Tags: Europe David Cameron Tories & Europe

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25 comments

Mon, 2012-05-21 06:22 — CampbellAlonso

Cameron did good for Britain by using the veto and the pro European's hissing and screaming crying wolf are the minority, if want proof have a referendum or snap election or stop reading the Guardian and will show the majority of Britain agrees with what DC did and in fact would prefer he did more along the same lines. If was election right now Cons would not need LibDems anymore to govern, from everywhere I have been the majority of people support Cameron's choice and his popularity outside the minority fear-mongering has reached highest yet. Keep up the good work, majority of British supports his choice he made. Politicians are voted into power to do what the people want and the majority or British people agree with him. http://www.furniturehq.org/

Mon, 2011-12-12 22:16 — celeriac (not verified)

Ed Balls will not be the next Labour leader, he knows he has a spoiled pitch due to his link with Brown. It's Yvette Cooper you need to keep your eye on.

You heard it here first, she will take the leadership!

Tue, 2011-12-13 20:22 — Adey (not verified)

Armchair politicians on this site are more deluded and ignorant than white van men ringing into Radio 5 Live. And most of you seem to be Tory too. Deary me. What next a critique of Desperate Scousewives and then flick over to X Factor?

Mon, 2011-12-12 22:42 — Lady J (not verified)

You can thank Gordon Brown, Ed Balls and Ed Miliband that the UK is not in the Euro. It is the Tories that got us into Europe. But as usual with conservatives, they have a way of re-writing history and basing their arguments on illusions and not facts.

Swallow your pride I dont have a clue,Dave and ask Gordon Brown to help you solve the financial crisis.

Wed, 2011-12-14 19:25 — dee price (not verified)

Binishere ...don't you see that Mrs Merkel is doing everything she can to kick England out of EU. Keep on mind -- she is a Prussian girl !!! Dave is just doing his job defending the UK vital interests. Let me tell you....Kingdom and Republic (read: nobody knows what everybody does) is just not to be merged under any circumsatances. I vote for monarchy. Better with US,Canada and Australia etc.. then rotten "reichen-ized" EU.

Tue, 2011-12-13 23:35 — Eddy S (not verified)

the deal is Sarko out-maneuvered "call me dave" but then again i think he would have out-maneuvered every other British politician - Sarko would eat any British politician alive and spit them out for breakfast except for Blair he is probably the only person who could worked something out only because he is ultra smooth like when he charmed the pants of the french when he went to the french parliament and delivered speech in french (that was amazing and we all knew it).

right now Sarko does as he pleases and shapes the EU the way he wants and everybody else just follows.

Tue, 2011-12-13 23:42 — Eddy S (not verified)

Blair sends greeting to Sarko in french:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrw5YgWC0rs

Tue, 2011-12-13 12:09 — mary8

Ed Miliband has far more experience in the politics of negotiation than Cameron. The argument that Labour would not have ended up in the same isolated position as Cameron, both before or during the negotiation on Friday is very plausible. The use of the veto displays lack of preparation, as well as arrogance. It would never have happened under Thatcher, Major, Blair, Brown or either of the Milibands.

Wed, 2011-12-14 03:30 — Sam Flowers (not verified)

Hackademic asks if Cameron is the most incompetent PM of the 20th Century!

He might be the most incompetent of the last hundred years but not at least of the 20th Century!

Mon, 2011-12-12 18:34 — madasbalooons (not verified)

Of course it was stage managed for Camerons benefit.Can we see the minutes of the discussions?
No? I thought not.

Mon, 2011-12-12 18:35 — Stuff

Merkel has an election next year.
Sarkozy has an election next year.
DC has made past promises to his troublesome MPs etc.
What happened suites all three of them?
Mr Clegg is the usual fall guy?

Tue, 2011-12-13 15:52 — dee price (not verified)

As I said earlier ...Mr Miliband is young and inexperienced. Under his watch UK would be reich-enized real quick. UK really doesn't need germanized EU. UK must be in charge of its own destiny. Thats the point.

Mon, 2011-12-12 19:46 — Indu Pendent (not verified)

Labour's response to Cameron saying No is
- 90% bash the LibDems
- 10% bash Cameron

Its a dilema for Labour. They cant attack Cameron because half of Labour MP's agree with him just as the large majority of the electorate as we are seeing in the opinion poles.

Milibandwagon has fatally damaged himself. He stupidly tried to float a bandwagon on Europe of all issues by publically saying he would have unconditionally signed the treaty (how people remember it). Come back in 1 month and see how many times he has been attacked for every criticism of weakness you can think of.

Ed Balls has been exceptionally clever and kept out of it - I think now he is very likely to be the Labour leader by the next election.

So why bash the LibDems? Its to capture the deserting voters. Labour are strategically in such a mess - they are going to have to seek an alegence with the LibDems at the next election whilst now undermining them.

Lbour's ecision making brian can only be a moron.

Wed, 2011-12-14 13:54 — brook boysen (not verified)

Conspiracy? Real conspiracy? Dave's not up to that.

Thu, 2011-12-15 21:35 — Luddite (not verified)

Britain now faces a revenge attack for David Cameron’s EU veto when a senior unelected Brussels bureaucrat promised a new deluge of damaging red tape on UK business this isn't the action of a European partner this is war speak, this provoked outrage among many following fears that yet more EU tax and regulation on the Britain financial services could cost up to 500,000 jobs across Britain. “What is completely unacceptable is Brussels’ plan to impose further costs on business at a time of rapidly rising unemployment is simply unbelievable. A survey by the CBI and financial firm Towers Watson found widespread fears among firms that the red tape would massively increase costs and damage job creation. In a further threat, the commissioner added: “The previous Labour government excessive deficit and debt will be the subject of surveillance like other member states, even if the enforcement mechanism mostly applies to the euro-area member states.” It doesn't stop there Brussels’ plan to impose further costs on firms operating defined benefit pensions if they hadn’t suffered enough under Gordon Brown. When the protection in place has already proven itself during the economic crisis, trade unions have told the EU, the pension funds have told the EU. So far they have refused to listen. Anyone who claims to know what is about to happen to Europe is a deluded. An unprecedented collapse in world credit has hit against years of reckless state borrowing to produce economic meltdown. Where there is economic meltdown, there is always a danger of political meltdown. What did David Cameron’s veto?. A German-led "unequal treaty" that would impose a battery of budgetary and fiscal disciplines on Greece, Italy, Spain and France, in the forlorn hope of calming markets. This in turn means decisions over budgets, taxes, benefits and transfers taken away from elected national parliaments and put in the hands of unelected ministerial councils and unelected Brussels commissioners. Such decisions would carry no local legitimacy and risk being unenforceable. At a time of rising resentment against austerity this would prove explosive. Europe is uncompetitive over regulated and profoundly anti-business more of the same is not needed. But needless to say the British Labour party will give their unflinching support for all things European.

Mon, 2011-12-12 19:58 — Hackademic (not verified)

It would be reassuring if it was a conspiracy but I fear it is another demonstration of laziness and incompetence. Here is a prime minister who doesn't read his papers, and relies on public school arrogance to get him through. He is unable to answer questions on details and resorts to crude abuse. Question - is this the most incompetent PM of the 20th century? Even Eden had a good degree in Arabic, instead of Mickey Mouse PPE. Chamberlain was nothing if not well-prepared.

Mon, 2011-12-12 20:14 — dee price (not verified)

Mr PM is absolutely right. Mrs Merkel is building 4th Reich but this time using a financial weapon.
Mr Miliband is out of touch (young and inexperienced)

Mon, 2011-12-12 20:22 — Arturo Bandini (not verified)

Oh that young, inexpeienced Harvard economics lecturer Miliband has nothing on Carlton TV's PR guru!

Thu, 2011-12-15 22:17 — dee price (not verified)

Ludite....I absolutely agree! Very good comment.

Mon, 2011-12-12 20:29 — Gizmo (not verified)

The UK pumps far more into Europe than we ever get out of it financially being one of largest contributor to the EU coffers. Akin to a river flowing from our end to theirs with rain drops being returned. Good for Cameron he did right thing.

Like a passenger leaving the titanic (Euro) before it heads out while the effect of the euro collapsing might affect us ~and I am sure will regardless we have lowered the damage it will do to our own economy in that we will feel the ripples of it's collapse but not the tidal wave of which the rest who sign up for it will be hit by.

About time get back powers to govern ourselves with our own elected representatives not ruled and governed by non-elected (by British people) in EU.

Cameron did good for Britain by using the veto and the pro european's hissing and screaming crying wolf are the minority, if want proof have a referendum or snap election or stop reading the Guardian and will show the majority of Britain agree's with what DC did and in fact would prefer he did more along the same lines.

If was election right now Cons would not need LibDems anymore to govern, from everywhere I have been the majority of people support Cameron's choice and his popularity outside the minority fear-mongering has reached highest yet. Keep up the good work, majority of British supports his choice he made. Politicians are voted into power to do what the people want and the majority or British people agree with him.

Which is something that LibDems and Labour have forgotten regarding to whom they answer too.

With regard to Ed, his aides said he would of also veto'd the treaty so he is nothing more than a hypocrite. Between Labour who for a decade tried to bring the country into ruin with pushing up debt to the extreme, unlocking the borders in order to import voters from abroad using social payouts to disgusting actions like laughing and leaving notes mocking the state they left country in after kicked out and admitting that they were on a spend as much as can to mess up the country before Cons got in. Labour won't get back into power for decades. As for Clegg they should just rename their party "WhoDems?".

Sarkozy won't even be in power in 6 months time his own countrymen and women are not happy with the outcome and his opposition is claimed to be likely to win the next election which is soon.

Mon, 2011-12-12 20:33 — dee price (not verified)

UK should not pay off the loosers bills and bail out somebody's deficits. Italians...very soon ....Mrs Merkel will be giving you a daily wine dose and permission for morning farting.