Clegg 'bitterly disappointed' by summit outcome
Britain's Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg admitted today he was “bitterly disappointed” by the outcome of last week’s European Council when David Cameron wielded Britain’s veto.
He warned that Britain could be left “isolated and marginalised” in the wake of the summit.
“I’m bitterly disappointed by the outcome of last week’s summit, precisely because I think now there is a danger that the UK will be isolated and marginalised within the European Union,” he told BBC1’s Andrew Marr Show.
“I don’t think that’s good for jobs, in the City or elsewhere, I don’t think it’s good for growth or for families up and down the country.”
He said he would now be doing “everything I can to ensure this setback does not become a permanent divide”.
Mr Clegg spoke by telephone to Mr Cameronat 4am on Friday as talks ended in Brussels.
The Lib Dem leader said: “I said this was bad for Britain.
“I made it clear that it was untenable for me to welcome it.”
He said Tories welcoming the outcome of the summit were “spectacularly misguided”.
At Prime Minister’s questions last Wednesday, Conservative backbenchers urged Mr Cameron to show “bulldog spirit” in Brussels.
But Mr Clegg said today: “There’s nothing bulldog about Britain hovering somewhere in the mid Atlantic, not standing tall in Europe, not being taken seriously in Washington.”
He warned the UK was “retreating further to the margins” of Europe.
Foreign Secretary William Hague however insisted Britain was ``not marginalised'' and suggested Mr Clegg had signed up to the Government's bargaining position in advance of the summit.
“We are not marginalised, I can assure you of that,” he told Sky News.
“Our agreement is required in the EU to a whole range of other decisions that will be coming up over the next few months.
“We work closely with our partners on foreign policy, on the single market, and so on, and that will continue.”
He said “everybody knows” that the Tories and Lib Dems took different approaches to Europe but worked through all issues to “a common position”.
“The negotiating position that David Cameron took on Thursday night and Friday morning was agreed in advance with the Lib Dems in the coalition.
“And we will go on doing that, because although some of these different views about Europe have come to the fore in recent days the Lib Dems are clear, as we are, that the coalition continues and that’s in the vital interest of this country.”
