THE FIRST GREAT SERVICE DAVID CAMERON CAN DO HIS COUNTRY:

Blair too weak to win deal, says Chirac (David Rennie in Brussels and Anton La Guardia in Barcelona, 29/11/2005, Daily Telegraph)

In an attempt to break the deadlock over the next EU budget, the Prime Minister is proposing to slash nearly £17 billion from an earlier budget proposal that failed to find agreement in June. The British plan represents a cut of £120 billion from an initial spending plan put forward by the European Commission.

Most of the pain will be felt by the 10 newest members of the EU, mostly ex-Communist states, because the budget preserves both agricultural subsidies championed by France and the multi-billion pound annual British rebate. But as Mr Blair prepared to fly to eastern Europe this week to sell his scaled-down budget as being in the "true interest" of the new member states, Mr Chirac poured cold water on the chances of a deal by Britain, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU until the end of the year.

Speaking a few rooms from where Mr Blair was giving the closing press conference at a summit of European and Mediterranean countries in Barcelona, Mr Chirac said: "The United Kingdom has a very difficult mission. It is relatively isolated on the financial perspective."

Now would be the perfect moment for Tory leadership--if they had any yet--to step forward and say that no deal is better than one on French terms. If it breaks the EU, so be it.

Posted by Orrin Judd at November 28, 2005 9:15 PM