Downing Street’s negotiating team returned from Berlin last Friday afternoon in good spirits. Angela Merkel had accepted that Britain deserved concessions as part of Germany’s plan for a new European treaty. The Prime Minister was delighted, believing this to be a significant moment.
This was a first step in David Cameron’s long-term plan: to refashion Britain’s membership of the European Union, but to do so gradually rather than in one big-bang moment.

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