The question is...in using his veto to scupper plans for a new EU treaty, was David Cameron acting in the interests of Queen and Country, or to keep the whining eurosceptics in his Tory Party at bay?
A few days ago I wrote that David Cameron's nightmare begins....and so it has come to pass, with just him against the rest of Europe. Well, him and the country he supposedly represents. The United Kingdom. Now in free-fall isolation. No mates Britain. A Christmas gift President Sarkozy of France gave to himself. He always saw Cameron as an interfering upstart and, with the help of Germany's all-powerful Angela Merkel, he has firmly put the British Prime Minister in his place.
The EU summit in Brussels placed Mr Cameron between a rock and a hard place. The Lib Dems, his partner in the Coalition government, are rather fond of the EU, while a chunk of his own Tory party, hate anything to do with Johnny Foreigner and would be happy if this great island of Britain cast itself adrift from the heathens of mainland Europe.
It does look more and more like Mr Cameron headed for the summit without a real plan in mind, other than to give the other 26 countries in the EU a piece of his mind. He seems to have made no attempt to forge alliances with other nations, but went straight in with his list of demands. Oh, how Sarkozy must have whet his lips as he watched the British Prime Minister take the bait and leave himself bereft of friends.
The Prime Minister's Coalition partners are up in arms, with even his deputy Nick Clegg, deserting his original stance of being right behind Cameron. Although they love being in government and power, the Liberal Democrats will face accusations of hypocrisy if they back Mr Cameron. On the other hand if they don't it could mean the end of the Coalition.
The future of Britain's recovery is dependent on a strong Europe and a stabilised Eurozone, but there is a danger that Mr Cameron's action may have ended any real influence the UK has in Brussels, with France and Germany leading the other nations in a completely different direction.
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