WILLIAM Hague has flatly rejected demands from 95 Tory MPs for Westminster to be given a veto over all laws from Brussels.
The Foreign Secretary risked inflaming simmering Conservative tensions over Europe by branding the proposal "unrealistic" and warning it would make the single market unworkable.
He stepped in after backbenchers wrote to David Cameron saying the Commons should have the authority to block new EU legislation and repeal measures that threaten Britain's "national interest".
Responding to the letter drafted by senior MP Bernard Jenkin, Mr Hague said in a TV interview yesterday: "If national parliaments all around the EU were regularly and unilaterally able to choose which bits of EU law they would apply and which bits they would not then the European single market would not work.
"So we have to be realistic about these things."
A Downing Street spokesman echoed his comments.
The row came as Chancellor George Osborne is preparing to use a speech on Thursday to say Britain should remain in a reformed European Union.
He will tell an audience of Conservatives the UK is gaining support as it pushes for EU changes.
The Tory leadership hit back at the party's Eurosceptic wing as a new poll showed more people think Britain should stay in the EU, but try to reduce its powers, than want Britain to leave.
Some 38% of UK voters favoured the Prime Minister's plan to limit the EU's powers compared with 28% who want to see Britain quit the Brussels club altogether, the study by Ipsos Mori for think tank British Future found.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article