Cabinet Minister Calls For Euro Referendum

A cabinet minister has further compromised the Government's position after saying that a UK referendum on Europe could be inevitable if EU leaders try to revise the treaties.

During an interview with the Spectator, published on Wednesday, Northern Ireland secretary and leading Eurosceptic, Owen Paterson, swept the legs from David Cameron's precarious stance of repatriating powers from the European Union as it battles with the debt crisis, saying there would be "huge pressure" for a referendum.

Paterson told the magazine's political editor: "If there was a major fundamental change in our relationship, emerging from the creation of a new bloc, which would be effectively a new country from which we were excluded, then I think inevitably there would be huge pressure for a referendum."

"This isn't going to happen immediately because these negotiations are going to take some months. But I think down the road that is inevitable."

The comments come on a difficult morning for the Prime Minister, who has already been delt a blow by his Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke, who said that any repatriation of powers back to the UK was unlikely.

Meanwhile, Labour's Shadow Foreign Secretary, Douglas Alexander, has accused the PM of spending too much time "negotiating with his own backbenchers" and spending too little fighting for Britain's interests in Europe.

"The Government are still unable to confirm if any new resources are being allocated to the task of assessing the balance of powers between Britain and the EU or even how many civil servants are working on this particular issue," Mr Alexander said.

He added: "This Government is trying to face both ways on Europe and as a result are failing to invest sufficient will or resource into promoting Britain's interests and securing the best outcome for the UK."

The news comes ahead of a crunch European meeting taking place in Brussels on Thursday. The summit will see discussions on a realignment of the current European treaties, while Euro leaders try to circumvent the need to member states to hold nervous referendums.

(DW)