London: British Prime Minister David Cameron suffered his first significant parliamentary defeat on Wednesday after rebels in his Conservative party joined the Labour opposition to demand a cut in the EU budget.
Lawmakers passed a motion urging Cameron to insist on a real-terms cut in the bloc’s trillion-euro 2014-2020 budget at a Brussels summit next month, by 307 votes to 294.
While not binding, the vote is the most significant defeat since the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition came to power in 2010.
Cameron had sought to head off the rebellion by threatening to veto any above-inflation increase of the EU budget, which has become increasingly contentious as austerity measures bite across the continent.
But in a stinging blow to his authority, 53 Conservative lawmakers defied the prime minister and voted for a real-terms cut.
During a heated exchange in parliament earlier Wednesday, the premier accused opposition leader Ed Miliband of “complete opportunism” for backing a motion brought by Labour’s political foes, the eurosceptic Conservatives.
Cameron had sought to convince loyalists that the best Britain could realistically hope for next month was a seven-year EU budget freeze as most of the bloc’s 27 member states support a rise in the budget.
“This government is taking the toughest line in these budget negotiations of any government since we joined the European Union,” Cameron told the House of Commons.
“At best we would like it cut, at worst frozen, and I’m quite prepared to use the veto if we don’t get a deal which is good for Britain.”
He added that if a seven-year deal is not struck next month the EU will have to revert to annual budgets, which Cameron said would be more costly for Britain.
Foreign Secretary William Hague said ministers would “hear and take notice” of the vote but indicated that the government would not change its position.
“We are already going for the toughest position any prime minister has ever gone for in EU budget negotiations. He will continue to seek the best possible deal for the British taxpayer,” Hague told BBC television.
But Mark Reckless, a leading Conservative rebel, said Cameron could not afford to return from the summit with anything less than a real-terms budget cut.
“If the government comes with anything except a cut in the EU budget then they are not going to be able to get that through parliament — and they are going to need to get it through parliament in this case,” Reckless told BBC television.
Peter Bone, another leading rebel, hailed the vote as “a remarkable victory”.
“Parliament spoke for the people,” he said. “There was enormous pressure on colleagues to vote with the government.”
The revolt puts renewed pressure on Cameron after months of blunders and u-turns by the coalition, which is halfway through its five-year term, and whisperings of a possible leadership challenge.
Europe has divided the Conservatives for decades but it is also likely to be an issue in the next general election, scheduled for 2015, amid growing scepticism about the EU among British voters.
Many Conservatives have called for a referendum on ending Britain’s membership of the bloc altogether. Cameron opposes an “in-out” referendum, but has hinted at a public vote on adjusting Britain’s relationship with the EU.
Cameron warned European Council president Herman van Rompuy at talks in London last week that Britain, which does not use the euro currency, could not support a sharp increase in the EU budget.
The Commission wants a budget of 1.03 trillion euros ($1.33 trillion), up 5.0 percent on 2007-2013, but seven major contributor states have balked at the increase at a time when they are having to cut spending at home.
It rejected on Tuesday a 50-billion-euro cut suggested by Cyprus, the current holder of the EU’s rotating presidency.
But Germany and France have joined Britain in insisting that the EU cannot expect to get more when they have to make do with less, demanding cuts in the 2014-2020 budget of 100 billion euros or more.
In December, Cameron dramatically parted ways with the bloc over the EU fiscal compact, which laid down the lines for tighter coordination of tax and spending policy amid the eurozone crisis.
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