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David Cameron was accused of “running scared” on gay marriage after the controversial legislation was left out of the Queen’s Speech. Downing Street insisted that the law—which has already cleared the Commons—would continue its passage through the Lords in the new session of Parliament. But in apparent recognition of its unpopularity with many traditional Tory voters, there was no mention of it in yesterday’s speech setting out the Government’s legislative program for the year. The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill was rejected by more than half of his MPs in a Commons vote in February and was blamed by some...

Amid growing calls from Tory MPs for David Cameron to respond to the Ukip threat by bringing forward legislation on an EU referendum, Farage warned that his party would not go away even if No 10 "starts singing the same song". William Hague, who famously suffered a major defeat in the 2001 election after tacking to the right, called for a cautious response to Ukip as he warned of the dangers of "quick fixes". Philip Hammond, the defence secretary, said many Ukip voters were "frustrated Conservatives". As the Tories work out their response to Ukip, which won nearly a quarter...

BLUNDERING Ed Miliband yesterday said Britain’s problems are so bad NO ONE can solve them. The Labour chief made the gaffe as he drummed up support for Thursday’s council elections. In a Radio 4 interview in which he repeatedly lost his temper, he said: “Are our problems so deep nobody can actually make a difference to them? My emphatic answer to that is yes.” Mr Miliband also refused to admit Labour would increase borrowing if they were in power — even though Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls had already said as much.

For a man who regards Brussels as the biggest threat to Britain’s freedom since the Second World War, the choice of beer for Nigel Farage was obvious when we met at the Westminster Arms on Friday: Spitfire. It is brewed by Shepherd Neame in Kent to celebrate the Battle of Britain. Farage, a man of Kent, gulped down the first pint in 15 minutes, ordered a ‘reload,’ polishing off his second in another ten; and the moment we stepped outside, he lit up a fag.

The British government says former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s funeral cost taxpayers £3.6 million ($5.6 million), mostly for security. … Prime Minister David Cameron’s office said Thursday that Thatcher’s family was paying the cost of the undertaker and flowers for the funeral. …

Baroness Thatcher had criticized David Cameron only a few months ago for not being “far enough behind” Labour in the polls—because he ought to be pushing through unpopular policies. As the Conservative Party grappled with her towering legacy, a friend of the former prime minister said she had also expressed a dislike of the Coalition and urged voters not to support UKIP. Lady Thatcher’s death has prompted a surge of pride among Tory MPs at her government’s extraordinary achievements, but also a degree of soul-searching about the party’s failure to win the last election outright. …

Many Christians doubt David Cameron’s sincerity in pledging to protect their freedoms, former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey says today. In an article for the Daily Mail, Lord Carey squarely accuses ministers of “aiding and abetting” discrimination against Christians. He says he believes there is an “aggressive secularist and relativist approach” behind the Government plans to legalize gay marriage, and says the Prime Minister has “done more than any other recent political leader” to “feed” Christian anxieties. …

Second World War Desert Rats describe their disgust and sadness after it emerges that the celebrated tank unit would be left without any tanks as a result of the latest round of defense cuts. Major Sam Bradshaw, who fought with the 7th Armoured Brigade throughout the conflict, including its famous campaign in north Africa, said he would like to wring David Cameron’s neck. … He added: “They are just cutting back, cutting back, cutting back. You can’t put a price on defense. I won’t live to regret it, but my thoughts are with the people of the future. I hope...

Once a marginal group of anti-Europeans, the UK Independence Party (UKIP) is now a force to be reckoned with after its best-ever national election result spooked Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservatives. UKIP took 28 percent of the vote in Thursday's by-election in the southern English seat of Eastleigh... pushing the Tories into a humiliating third place. Although the anti-Brussels party has yet to win a seat in the British parliament, the result is its best in a string of good performances in mid-term votes in recent months. UKIP leader Nigel Farage said it was part of a trend. "What happened...

Herman Van Rompuy, European Council President, issued his strongest warning yet to Britain, saying in a speech in London yesterday (28 February) that the EU’s door was open to those in the club who want to leave. … … Van Rompuy laced his speech in London’s financial district with a clear warning to Cameron: Europe will not countenance any attempt by Britain to win an ‘a-la-carte’ membership, picking and choosing which of the European Union’s rules it will follow and which to reject. He cautioned Prime Minister David Cameron that the bloc’s other leaders do not want to renegotiate Europe’s...

David Cameron is facing turmoil after a UKIP surge enabled the scandal-hit Liberal Democrats to cling on in the most crucial by-election battle for 30 years and pushed the Tories into a humiliating third place. The Liberal Democrats held the South Coast seat of Eastleigh seat vacated by Chris Huhne - despite an unprecedented period of bad publicity over the Lord Rennard scandal and record lows in national opinion polls.

The Tories’ biggest donor has stopped funding the party after privately questioning whether the Prime Minister is still a proper Conservative. Lord Ashcroft, who has given the Tories £10 million ($15 million), has withdrawn support after becoming dismayed with David Cameron’s obsession with “fringe issues” such as gay marriage. The Tory peer also told friends he has given enough money and is not hopeful of the party winning a majority in 2015. … In another blow to Cameron, his local Chipping Norton party chairman, Cicely Maunder, quit her post and tore up her party membership over his promotion of gay...

Mandrake reported on Friday that David Cameron’s mother, Mary, had been asked why the Prime Minister was pressing ahead with plans to change the law in favor of same-sex marriage when it was alienating so many of the Conservative Party’s natural supporters. “I know, but David just won’t be told,” the retired Justice of the Peace replied. The answer may be close to hand: a cabinet minister points to Samantha Cameron’s influence on her husband. “Samantha is the driving force behind the policy,” claims the minister. The baronet’s daughter, who is a creative consultant at Smythson, the Mayfair luxury goods...

A caucus of euroskeptic Conservative MPs has issued a manifesto today (16 January), two days before Prime Minister David Cameron is set to make a landmark speech on Europe, stating that “the status quo is no longer an option” and demanding “a new and different relationship” with the European Union. The Fresh Start group of Conservative backbenchers—numbering nearly 100 of the party’s 304 deputies—sets out proposals to repatriate legislative powers to the UK and cut Britain’s bill for EU membership by billions of pounds a year. … The MPs also raised the possibility of the UK withholding funds for EU...

David Cameron says he wants to stay on as British prime minister until 2020, calling his agenda of reforms enough to keep him busy through another term. … Cameron told the newspaper (Sunday Telegraph) there was no turning back on policies such as allowing same-sex marriage or the protection of foreign-aid spending, which have been unpopular with his party’s grass roots. He urged critics in his party to “stop complaining.” …

The United Kingdom has long been proud to host the Mother of Parliaments. Now, if Prime Minister David Cameron has his way, Britain will be home to the Progenitor of Parliaments. Britain’s Conservatives – the Tories – are deeply divided by the precipitous actions of their young, hip Prime Minister. Mr. Cameron wants to ram through Parliament a measure to end marriage in Britain. He won’t, of course, claim to be ending marriage. But this will nonetheless be the effect of his rule. But Cameron is facing a revolt. A big one. Anne Widdicombe spoke for thousands of Britons when...

The leader of Roman Catholics in England and Wales has urged followers to write to their representatives in Parliament to oppose the government’s plans to allow gay marriage. … Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservative-led government plans to introduce legislation in January to allow gay marriages. Recent opinion polls suggest a large majority of the public supports the change. …

British troops could return home from Afghanistan even “faster” than planned, David Cameron has said, as 3,800 troops are scheduled to be withdrawn by the end of next year. … Speaking to reporters at Camp Bastion, the main operational headquarters for British troops, Mr. Cameron said the proposed timetable for troop withdrawals was “flexible”. “Of course there is always flexibility in any plan,” he said. “But I would make the point that so far, things have surprised on the upside in terms of the capability of the Afghan forces. So we might be able to move a little bit faster....

Barack Obama has warned Britain against leaving the European Union, it emerged today. The US President used a call to David Cameron to urge him to resist calls to abandon Brussels, ahead of the PM delivering a major speech on Europe in the New Year. But President Obama is understood to be backing Mr. Cameron’s approach in his fight for a “better deal for Britain”. …

The scale of rebellion David Cameron faces over same-sex marriage is made clear as dozens of MPs and peers signed up to a new cross-party alliance publicly pledging to resist the move. Almost 60 members of the Commons and Lords have signed a letter to The Daily Telegraph accusing the Coalition of acting without a mandate. In a strongly-worded statement, they pour scorn on the Government’s consultation process, which they say is mired in doubts over its legitimacy. And they accuse the Coalition of “plowing on regardless” in the face of what they describe as an “overwhelming public response” of...

Britain must use the upheaval created by the eurozone crisis to forge a new relationship with the European Union, Prime Minister David Cameron said on Friday as he fights a rising anti-EU mood at home that could threaten his chances of re-election. Speaking at the end of a summit of EU leaders that secured the first part of a banking union, Cameron played down fears Britain’s future lies on the margins of a two-tier Europe, while eurozone members build an ever-stronger core. “I don’t think Britain is in an uncomfortable position at all,” he told a news conference in Brussels...

David Cameron is imperilling the “entire political credibility” of the Conservative Party by supporting same-sex marriage, a Tory MP has said. Brian Binley accused the Prime Minister of chasing headlines instead of making responsible policies. …

Britain faces being “governed by fax” from Brussels and reduced to the standing of Norway if it leaves the European Union but stays in the single market, the Prime Minister said yesterday. At a lunch in Westminster, David Cameron insisted he did not want Britain to leave the EU. … He said: “I don’t want Britain to leave the EU. I think that we benefit crucially from the single market and I think it is worth understanding what leaving would involve. You can be like Norway, and you can have full access to the single market, but you have absolutely...

David Cameron has been warned that plans to let same-sex couples marry in churches will be “massacred” in the House of Lords and alienate grassroots Conservatives. Tory MPs and Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, have reacted with dismay after the Prime Minister said places of worship will be allowed to conduct same-sex weddings. The decision represents a major U-turn on the position set out in a formal Government consultation earlier this year which proposed a blanket ban. …

Boris Johnson has condemned the government for urging eurozone countries to form closer economic links as he demanded a referendum on Britain’s relationship with the European Union. The Chancellor and Prime Minister believe it is essential that the 17 eurozone countries move towards closer union of their banking and fiscal policies. However, the Mayor of London said the Government was backing an “intellectually dishonest” and “anti-democratic” approach. …

David Cameron brandished a list of the “outrageous” pay and perks of tens of thousands of Eurocrats last night as he clashed with EU leaders over British demands for cuts to Brussels’ vast budget. The Prime Minister insisted tens of billions of pounds could easily be slashed from the EU’s spending plans for the next seven years. He highlighted the Brussels gravy train, a new EU diplomatic service and infrastructure investment as key targets. … The Commission wants to increase its budget by 350 percent—from £6.5 billion ($10.4 billion) to £29 billion ($46 billion). Britain said that, at most, it...

British Prime Minister David Cameron suffered an important defeat in parliament on Wednesday (31 October) when opposition Labour party MPs sided with euroskeptics in his own Conservative party to demand a reduction in the EU budget.MPs voted by 307 to 294 in favor of a Tory-rebel amendment calling for the 2014-2020 EU budget to be “reduced in real terms.” Ahead of the vote, Cameron portrayed himself as tough on Brussels but left wiggle room to agree to an EU budget increase in line with 2 percent inflation. …

The chances of Britain leaving the EU rose dramatically last night after it emerged that one of David Cameron’s closest Cabinet allies believes it is time to tell Brussels bluntly: “We are ready to quit.” Education Secretary Michael Gove has told friends that, if there was a referendum today on whether the UK should cut its ties with Brussels, he would vote to leave. He wants Britain to give other EU nations an ultimatum: “Give us back our sovereignty or we will walk out.” …

Over the past few decades in Britain, itÂ’s been easy to get yourself branded a xenophobe, racist, or simply a nutcase: all you had to do was express misgivings about the European Union. Euro-skeptics, as theyÂ’re called here, were kept firmly on the periphery of public debate, not to be taken seriously, and if given airtime, were considered positively harmful. The fact that the U.K. population has generally registered views on the EU ranging from passive hostility to (more commonly) aggressive indifference was neither here nor there. As with most orthodoxies of our time, political, cultural, and media elites believed...

UK Prime Minister David Cameron should tone down his euroskeptic rhetoric and avoid a repeat of the diplomatic failure of last December’s European summit, Wales’ First Minister Carwyn Jones has told EurActiv in an exclusive interview. The leader of the devolved Welsh government, who is from the Labour party, distanced himself from Cameron, a Conservative, saying that he is less euroskeptic and more at ease with notions of European federalism. Whilst agreeing with the substance of the veto cast by Cameron at the last summit, the chief of the Cardiff-based Senedd—or Welsh Parliament—said the UK premier had got the "mood...

Nigel Farage needs no introduction: the famous Euroskeptic is one of very few men who has had the temerity to question, often in an abnormally high decibel fashion, the stupidity of the Eurozone leaders from day one. Now that he has been proven correct, he has every right to gloat, which he does to everyone's delightful amusement in the European parliament. The look on the unelected von Rompuy's face, especially as he watches his decade-long bureaucratic nirvana crash and burn every single day, is quite priceless.

By SUE LEEMAN, Associated Press LONDON (March 1, 2002 11:22 a.m. EST) - When is a leek a deviant delicacy? Never, according to the Welsh, who like to eat - and even wear - the variegated veggie so much that it has become their national symbol. So there was outrage Friday - Wales' national day, named for its patron St. David - when the European Commission published a directive that in the future all leeks sold in stores must look the same. Regulation No. 2396/2001 stipulates that grocers may not sell younger leeks with a diameter of less than eight ...

So, now we know what the latest euro-crisis summit has to offer. The fifth comprehensive effort to stabilise the eurozone in nineteen months, this latest Brussels gab-fest produced a slew of headlines and initiatives. But what did it really achieve? It was David Cameron’s “veto” and the UK’s new status as “Europe’s outcast” that gained most attention, at least in the UK press. Of far more importance though, in Britain, Europe and the world, is whether these latest Brussels initiatives can prevent a “euroquake” - a disorderly, market-driven break-up of monetary union. Despite Britain’s veto of a EU-wide “fiscal compact”,...

Prime Minister David Cameron has said he would veto a new European Union budget "if necessary". The EU is beginning negotiations on its next budget for 2014 to 2020. Mr. Cameron also told the BBC that in the longer term, the EU should have two different budgets—one for countries in the eurozone and one for those outside the single currency. Last year, Mr. Cameron vetoed an EU-wide treaty to coordinate budget policies and impose penalties on rule-breakers. …

David Cameron has been given a clear demand from the Conservative Party’s grass roots to drop his controversial plans to legalize same-sex marriage in an eve-of-conference poll. The survey of Tory constituency chairmen, seen by The Sunday Telegraph, finds that 71 percent think the proposal—which the Prime Minister has pledged will be law by 2015—should be abandoned. Nearly half the chairmen claim their local parties have lost members as a result of the plans, while only three percent say they have gained membership. …

British Prime Minister David Cameron has made a major cabinet move: he fired his pet cat. Larry, Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office, has been cat-napping on the job, reports the Daily Mail. Recruited from an animal shelter specifically for his mousing skills, Larry assumed office in Feb. 2011 and was charged with ridding 10 Downing Street of the pests. "Larry spends his days greeting guests to the house, inspecting security defences and testing antique furniture for napping quality. His day to day responsibilities also include contemplating a solution to the mouse occupancy of the house," says the website of...

This silliness has mostly been fun for me, as I suspect, unlike the media, the average American voter couldn't care less about it; however, it does have an element of Obama and the left's ongoing war against success in it. Some are forgetting that, not only does Romney speak with experience and success when it comes to running an Olympics, it was far from America's best moment when it risked botching an Olympics of its own back in 2002.  They can like it, or not, Mitt Romney is largely credited with hauling those, and Salt Lake's ashes out of the...

THE unfolding story of how Barclays — and, in all likelihood, other big banks — rigged interest rates is full of telling tidbits about the way Wall Street works. It also represents yet another teachable moment. By now the world knows that Barclays manipulated the most widely used benchmark rate, the London interbank offered rate. But Barclays is just one member of the cozy club that sets the Libor, which is supposed to be based on the average rate at which large banks can borrow money overnight. It’s not based on actual transactions, however — and that leaves room for...

Germany has drawn up secret plans to prevent a British referendum on the overhaul of the European Union amid concerns it could derail the eurozone rescue package. German chancellor Angela Merkel is expected to tell David Cameron that Britain does not need a referendum on EU treaty changes, despite demands from senior Conservatives for more powers to be repatriated to Britain. The leaked memo, written by the German foreign office, discloses radical plans for an intrusive new European body that can take over the economies of beleaguered eurozone countries. Germany is also preparing for other European countries, which are too...

TORY MPs heaped pressure on David Cameron yesterday to hold a referendum on Britain's membership of the EU. As the PM met European leaders in Brussels, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, his backbenchers plotted to hold polls to judge the mood. The People's Pledge campaign will hold its first poll in April, with ten more this year and 100 in 2013. Sixty-four MPs so far back the campaign — 44 are Tories. Eurosceptic Douglas Carswell said: "The decisions affecting my constituents' lives are now taken by remote and unaccountable politicians." It came as the Government performed a U-turn on last...

David Cameron has launched an attack on Europe for failing to deal with its "perilous" financial crisis, as he warned the euro doesn't have the qualities of successful single currency. The Prime Minister risked fuelling tensions with France and Germany by weighing into the debate on the future of the euro. His comments come just weeks after being accused of "interfering" by French president Nicolas Sarkozy. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Mr Cameron said Europe "has a long way to go" and must stop throttling growth with excessive bureaucracy and "mad" taxes. He urged European leaders to...

The 17 eurozone states and six other EU countries agreed early Friday to create a new treaty that will allow them to introduce stricter fiscal rules in the hope of containing a worsening debt crisis, but Britain's prime minister immediately threatened to block the new accord. The failure to get agreement among all 27 members of the European Union at a summit meeting in Brussels reflected in large part a deep split between France and Germany on the one hand and Britain on the other. France and Germany are the two largest economies in the eurozone; Britain does not use...

Yesterday, various news agencies reported that Hungary opted out of the treaty while Sweden and Czech Republic remained "undecided". However, the latest spin is that Hungary did not opt out yet and the gang of 26 will forge ahead without the UK. UK the "Big Loser" Having Fallen into "French Trap"? Last evening in German Vision Prevails as Leaders Agree on Fiscal Pact the New York Times portrayed the UK as the "big loser", stating Cameron made a "poor gamble". On EU official said the UK fell into a "French Trap". Exactly 20 years to the day after European leaders...

David Cameron clashed repeatedly with Nicolas Sarkozy today after the French President tried to exclude Britain and non-eurozone countries from a critical Brussels summit to rescue European banks. During two hours of bitter exchanges during a meeting of all 27 EU leaders before a crisis summit of the eurozone’s 17 members on Wednesday, President Sarkozy fought hard to get the Prime Minister barred from talks that would finalise a 100billion euros cash injection into banks. ”We’re sick of you criticising us and telling us what to do. You say you hate the euro, you didn’t want to join and now...

Under increasing domestic pressure as the eurozone considers major integrative steps, Prime Minister David Cameron has said the UK may have a referendum on the EU, but his couched statement does not go far enough for increasingly restive Conservative euroskeptics. "The two words “Europe” and “referendum” can go together, particularly if we really are proposing a change in how our country is governed," Cameron wrote in the Sunday Telegraph. But he cautioned against an in/out referendum. "Leaving would not be in our country’s best interests", while a British vote to stay in the union would mean that subsequent attempts to...

A petition by the UK’s Coalition for Marriage opposing the government’s proposal to re-write the definition of marriage, which has been signed by well over half-a-million petitioners, was delivered in a gift-wrapped box to the Home Office and to Downing Street this week. The petition, one of the largest in the history of Parliament, was presented by recently married couple Rhys and Esther Curnow, both 23. The couple were joined by Conservative Party MPs Fiona Bruce and David Burrowes, Labour MP Jim Dobbin, and campaigners from the Coalition for Marriage, Colin Hart and Dr. Sharon James. Dr Sharon James, a...

The British people do not want a referendum on the European Union at the moment, Downing Street has said. In a claim that will irritate many voters and Conservative MPs, David Cameron’s spokesman said there was no popular support for it. Resolving the eurozone crisis was a greater priority, she said. The comments came as market fears over the single currency deepened, with Spain’s borrowing costs rising to record levels despite this week’s agreement for an £80 billion bailout of its banks. Italian bond yields also rose. George Osborne suggested that it could take the exit of a eurozone member...

The Falkland Islands, the South American islands subject to a bitter territorial dispute between the United Kingdom and Argentina, are to have a referendum over their links to the UK. Here's a full statement from David Cameron, via The Guardian: "I have always said that it is up to the Falkland Islanders themselves to choose whether they want to be British and that the world should listen to their views. Thirty years ago they made clear that they wanted to stay British. That's why British forces bravely liberated the island from Argentine invaders. Now the Argentine Government wants to put...

Plans to legalize same-sex marriage are the number one issue in MPs’ postbags—with an overwhelming majority of voters opposed to the move—according to a new poll. The survey of MPs from across the political spectrum by ComRes also shows that only one in 25 parliamentarians believes that allowing gay unions is a main priority for voters. The poll comes in the wake of a growing number of Conservative heavyweights declaring that they do not support moves to allow same-sex marriage by law by the time of the next election, May 2015. Last week, Downing Street backed down by signaling that...

Prime Minister David Cameron will promise on Thursday to do whatever is needed to protect Britain's economy and banks from a breakup of the eurozone, and will urge leaders of the single currency bloc to "sort out its problems". Cameron's remarks, in a speech to business leaders in northwest England, are likely to irritate European leaders trying to keep the eurozone intact as Greece prepares for a new election and struggles to cope with its debt crisis. Britain's Conservative-led coalition has long blamed its own economic woes on the turbulence in Europe, its main trading partner, though critics say Cameron's...