Ed the arch-bungler lets Cameron off the ropes

Ed Miliband had an open goal today. And he whacked it straight over the bar. Cameron was in trouble from the start. Having placated the rebel wing of his party with vague talk about ‘repatriating powers’ he is now expected to deliver. But he can’t make specific demands without weakening his hand at the negotiations so he has to talk in generalities. The Labour leader spotted this weakness and tried to exploit it with one of his lethally brief questions.

‘What powers would the Prime Minister repatriate?’ Cameron gave several answers without addressing the issue. His aim in the negotiations, he said, was to resolve the eurozone crisis, ‘and that means countries coming together and doing more things together.’ Both his manner and his phrasing seemed feeble and unconvincing. ‘The more that countries in the eurozone ask for,’ he went on, frowning hard, as if recalling some abstruse logical proof, ‘the more we will ask for in return,’