Much ado about a Cabinet split over Europe this morning. The Financial Times has
interviewed Ken Clarke, whose europhile instincts are well known — something he shares with the senior Lib Dems. Clarke tells his
eurosceptic colleagues not to expect powers to be repatriated from the EU at Friday’s summit. Meanwhile, David Cameron has written a piece in today’s Times (£), reiterating that he will veto any treaty that damages British interests. He also says that his ‘requests will be practical and
focussed’. And therein, apparently, lays the split.
The word ‘requests’ might open the possibility of repatriation. Cameron appears to be hedging his bets ahead of Friday’s summit, lowering his more rebellious MPs’ expectations before returning with a concession, just as he did in Germany recently. But, in the context of this Times article, ‘requests’ pertains to seeing off an EU power grab in order to protect British interests as they currently stand.
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