A vote by the European Parliament to back inflation-busting rises in EU spending for the next eight years has come under fierce attack from British politicians across the party divide in Westminster and Brussels.
While UK MEPs joined forces to try to block the spending hikes, they failed and were outnumbered almost five to one in a vote in Strasbourg. This endorsed the European Commission's demand for more cash to fund EU policies; a 6.8% increase for 2013 and thereafter until 2020 an annual rise of at least 5%.
The hikes are due to be agreed at a summit in Brussels next month. Prime Minister David Cameron has pledged to veto the six-year rise as this has to be passed unanimously.
However, he cannot veto the proposed annual hike as this is passed by qualified majority voting.
Bulgarian MEP Ivailo Kalfin, the Socialist group negotiator on the budget, defended the proposed above-inflation rises, saying the EU budget was different from those of national governments, claiming it was an "investment tool to support long-term development and strategic European co-operation".
He added: "It gives additional instruments to the member states and the regions that are crucial in times of austerity."
Richard Ashworth, Conservative group leader, said the EU had to stop spending money member states did not have.
"It is plain wrong to impose austerity regimes on Greece and Spain at the same time as trying to increase spending and borrowing across Europe as a whole. That amounts to economic illiteracy," he argued.
Glenis Willmott, leader of the Labour MEPs, said: "The priority now is to cut waste, go for growth and deliver a real term freeze in the budget" while George Lyon, the LibDem MEP, said it was "vital the EU budget reflects the hard financial times faced by all member states".
Treasury Minister Greg Clark said when most member states were taking difficult decisions to deal with deficits, it was "totally unacceptable for the Commission to ask for more money".
Meanwhile, Nick Clegg will today respond to William Hague's eurosceptic broadside, made yesterday, in which the Conservative Foreign Secretary stepped up a Tory drive to repatriate powers from Brussels.
In London, the LibDem Deputy Prime Minister will promise to be "vigilant against knee-jerk or dogmatic responses to our economic challenges", insisting: "We need a balanced, engaged approach to Europe."
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