Commission president Barroso lashes out at eurosceptic Tories
EUROPEAN Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso launched a stinging attack on David Cameron’s Conservatives yesterday, provoking a defiant response from the Prime Minister’s party.
Barroso, having made his annual State of the European Union speech, turned on Conservative MEP Martin Callanan. “I think your party, and your group, is increasingly looking like UKIP and the eurosceptic, anti-European group,” Barroso said, warning that more Brits may vote for UKIP than the Tories in future European elections.
The former Portuguese PM had used his speech to call for ever-tighter integration. “I believe a political union needs to be our political horizon,” he said.
But last night Cameron’s party hit back. “We disagree strongly with the president,” a spokesperson said. “The EU needs fundamental change, and [voting Conservative will] show Britain’s absolute determination to back the PM’s plan to reform the EU and give people a referendum on our membership.”