Cameron Labelled 'Coward' By MEP

A European Minister has called David Cameron "a coward" as angry politicians across Europe hit out at the British Prime Minister's decision to veto Europe's crunch agreement at the weekend.

Speaking to German Newspaper The Speigel, co-chairman of the Greens group in the European Parliament, Franco-German politician Daniel Cohn-Bendit said, "Cameron is a coward and accused the British prime minister of not wanting to deal with the conflict over the Europe Union within his Conservative Party.

Cameron, he said, had "manoeuvred himself into a populist corner" from which he would no longer emerge.

Another prominent German MEP, Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, said it had been a "mistake" to admit the British into the European Union saying the UK must now renegotiate its relationship with the EU.

"Either they do it by themselves, or the EU will be founded anew -- without Great Britain," he said.

The chorus of European criticism comes as Labour's Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls accused Cameron of relegating Britain to the outer fringes of Europe.

Speaking on Monday, Mr Balls said: "Rather than glorying in isolation, our Prime Minister should have been building alliances to get political backing for the European Central Bank to act as lender of last resort, which is urgent and imperative to restore market confidence, as well as a plan for jobs and growth across Europe to break out of the current austerity straitjacket.

"The result is we now face the worst of all worlds – no action to stop contagion spreading in the eurozone, countries simply piling austerity on austerity with no plan for the growth and jobs that are essential to get deficits down, and a sidelined Britain not at the table when decisions that affect our national interest are taken."

(DW)