Eurosceptics smell a rat in Cameron and Tusk face-off

Donald Tusk’s letter to European leaders has confirmed what has been evident for some weeks – that there is only one properly contentious issue in Britain’s renegotiation of its relationship with the EU. Unfortunately, it is the only issue that really matters politically in Britain – the proposal to curb benefits for EU migrants.

David Cameron’s spokeswoman welcomed the letter, but insisted that the prime minister stood by his demand for EU migrants to have lived in the UK for four years before they can claim in-work benefits.

“This renegotiation is about addressing the concerns of the British people about membership of the EU and that means that we need reform in all four areas that we have outlined,” she said. “What matters is that we keep making the case for why we need to see changes. This issue that we are trying to address here is how better to control migration from within the EU . . . We will continue to have discussions and explore the options.”

More modest proposal

Mr Cameron’s proposal is more modest than many Conservatives would have wished for and falls far short of the cap on absolute numbers demanded by some. Polls show that British people strongly support their own right to live and work in the EU, but tend to oppose the right of EU citizens to live and work in Britain. The prime minister claims that delaying the payment of in-work benefits and halting the payment of child benefit overseas will reduce the number of people coming to Britain “by reducing the draw that our welfare system can exert across Europe”.

Mr Tusk’s letter suggests that Britain’s proposal will not be accepted in its current form, calling on Mr Cameron to make his case at next week’s EU summit. There will be no deal next week but the prime minister is hoping for an agreement at the next EU summit, in February.

Mr Cameron is reported to have told other European leaders that he is willing to campaign for Britain to leave the EU if he fails to achieve a satisfactory reform deal. But campaigners for a British exit are scornful of the idea that the prime minister would ever consider campaigning on their side.

‘Meaningless demands’

“What we are witnessing is a choreographed EU fudge, where our prime minister goes through the motions of making some soft and meaningless demands, then on cue Donald Tusk raises some technical objections. Next we shall have a compromise that makes them both look like excellent negotiators,” said Brian Monteith, spokesman for Leave.EU, a Eurosceptic grassroots campaign.

“Donald Tusk is already able to agree to three of the four demands because they do not require treaty change and he knows without a new treaty any changes will be worthless. The European court of Justice can easily strike them down. David Cameron’s EU fudge will not prevent a single migrant coming to the UK looking for work; it won’t save a solitary pound from the growing cost of our membership; and it won’t make a scintilla of difference to the thousands of regulations that all our businesses face – even when they don’t export to the EU,” he added.