EU veto: Coalition partners seek to lower tensions

Senior Conservatives and Lib Dems have sought to soothe coalition tensions over Europe after Nick Clegg missed a Commons statement by David Cameron. The pro-European Lib Dem leader, who is also deputy prime minister, chose not to attend the Conservative prime minister's EU summit statement. But senior Lib Dems have insisted the coalition will remain intact. And Justice Secretary Ken Clarke said there was "not the faintest prospect" of the UK seeking to repatriate powers. Britain's position in Europe is expected to be one of the main talking points at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning and the issue will return to the Commons chamber later - during an opposition debate called by the Democratic Unionists. The summit is also being debated in the European Parliament at the moment. EC president Jose Manuel Barroso has said the UK's negotiating position on financial regulation represented a "risk to the integrity of the single market". Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg was absent from the Commons on Monday when the prime minister updated MPs on Friday's EU summit and his reasons for using the UK's veto to block EU-wide treaty changes designed to facilitate closer union between eurozone members. 'Cowardice' Mr Clegg said afterwards he "would have been a distraction" if he was there. But Labour said it was evidence that the government was irreparably divided over the issue of the UK's role in Europe. The Liberal Democrats joined the coalition in the national interest. We did so to deliver a coalition that will be secure for five years and it will be” End Quote Simon Hughes Lib Dem deputy leader Several Conservative MPs criticised Mr Clegg's decision to stay away, one accusing him of "cowardice". The BBC's political editor Nick Robinson said although Mr Clegg had approved Mr Cameron's Commons speech, it was "unprecedented" for him to have stayed away. People would now be asking how the two parties could bridge the apparently vast gulf between them over such a key issue, he added. But senior Lib Dems say party differences over European policy do not threaten the survival of the coalition. Former Lib Dem leader Lord Ashdown told the BBC's Newsnight that despite the two parties agreeing their negotiating stance in advance, the conduct of the EU negotiations had been "a matter for the prime minister" and the UK now had to "step back from a position of isolation". "If this government were foolish enough to run riot with European policy in future, then I think it would be in a very serious position as a government in Britain," he said. "Obviously you are never in something for all circumstances. But the centre of the coalition is how you take the country through the economic crisis." Lib Dem deputy leader Simon Hughes said the coalition remained "equally strong" despite the dispute over Europe. "The Liberal Democrats joined the coalition in the national interest. We did so to deliver a coalition that will be secure for five years and it will be." He denied suggestions that Mr Clegg's absence was a calculated snub to Mr Cameron. "I think it was the right decision... I think everybody would have been watching his every reaction... It is much better that the prime minister was able to present the case." Mr Cameron's handling of the EU negotiations was applauded by a succession of Conservative MPs on Monday - many of whom prior to the summit were calling for the government to draw up detailed plans for bringing back powers from Brussels to Westminster. The coalition government is committed to reviewing the balance of powers between Westminster and Brussels but Justice Secretary Ken Clarke - one of the Conservatives' most pro-European voices - appeared to rule out any immediate moves to repatriate powers. "There is not the faintest prospect of anybody looking to repatriate powers in this Parliament," he told Channel 4 News. "This government is not going to do that." Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary William Hague has insisted the UK's fundamental relationship with Europe has not changed despite it opposing treaty change among all 27 members as a means of getting closer budgetary and fiscal union. Speaking in Washington DC after talks with his US counterpart Hillary Clinton, Mr Hague said the UK would continue to argue for the EU to be more economically competitive and would still play a "absolutely central and leading role" in foreign policy co-operation over the Middle East, Iran and other issues.