David Cameron Tells EU to Stop "Pickpocketing" Citizens

Not happy at its efforts to increase its own budget

David Cameron has told the European commission it should stop "picking the pockets" of European citizens as it seeks to push through an above-inflation increase in the EU budget.

As he prepares for a crucial European summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday, the prime minister said pressing for budgetary restraint in such a difficult economic climate made him a good European.

But Cameron was given a taste of the divisions within the Conservative party when the pro-European Kenneth Clarke confirmed he had sought an assurance from the prime minister that he did not intend to leave the EU.