THE GUARDIAN: Deputy PM says prospect of wresting back powers from EU is 'tilting at windmills' after Cameron suffers backbench rebellion
Fresh differences between Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition partners have been exposed as the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, described the prospect of wresting back powers from Brussels as "tilting at windmills".
The education secretary, Michael Gove, had earlier sought to play down differences between the government and backbenchers after David Cameron suffered the largest postwar rebellion on Europe on Monday night, when 81 Conservative MPs supported a referendum on Britain's membership of the EU.
Gove insisted the policy differences between the government and rebels were exaggerated, and said the two sides were united in their determination to repatriate powers from the EU to Westminster[.]
Clegg, however, condemned the backbench rebellion, saying Britain should be leading, not leaving, Europe.
Recognising that reforms to the EU were necessary, he said: "You don't change Europe by launching some smash-and-grab dawn raid on Brussels. You do it by setting out the case for changes and then arguing the case with other countries.
"We can't do this on our own – we have to build alliances, we have to convince and persuade other countries, and that is what we look to do all the time."
Asked whether the British public could not be trusted with a vote on the country's relationship with Europe, Clegg replied: "I have always advocated a vote on Europe if there is a proposal on the table to transfer significant chunks of sovereignty and policy from our country to Brussels – but it's not on the table.
"We should stop tilting at windmills about threats and challenges which simply aren't there right now. Let's get on with the difficult job of working with our eurozone partners to fix the eurozone because, let's face it, unless you've got a strong, prosperous eurozone, you can't have a strong, prosperous United Kingdom." » | Hélène Mulholland, political reporter | Tuesday, October 25, 2011
