RELATIONS between the Coalition Government and the European Union have plummeted amid accusations of a "land grab" from a senior Tory minister.
Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith also pledged to fight the European Commission (EC) "every step of the way" after it demanded restrictions on immigrants accessing benefits were eased.
But the EC has refused to back down, and referred the UK Government to the EU's Court of Justice.
The Tory-LibDem Coalition says the restrictions are necessary to protect the benefits system from abuse, but the EC countered this with claims immigrants from other EU member states are missing out on payments they would receive in other countries.
The row comes at a particularly rocky time in UK-EU relations, with the Coalition currently assessing the benefits the UK accrues from EU membership.
It plans to use this analysis to demand a better deal from Europe ahead of an in-out referendum in 2017.
David Cameron has pledged to campaign for the UK to remain part of the EU, but the Prime Minister's position is under pressure after a number of his own ministers suggested that they would vote to leave if a snap poll was to be held today.
Last night Danny Alexander, the LibDem Chief Secretary to the Treasury, admitted there were problems with the EU, but insisted the UK was better off within the organisation, saying: "We shouldn't be debating leaving the EU, we should be leading it."
However, some Tory backbenchers are understood to believe that the spat shows why the UK has to negotiate a better deal with Europe – or pull out altogether. "Nice of them to make our case for us," one said yesterday.
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