Fellow conservatives across Europe are pushing back against the move. Whether this will have any impact is another story, but it's interesting to see the British right move away from their attempts (which have been successful) to play the middle. At the heart of the argument is whether or not the Tories will continue to support a European Union constitution as previously stated. The end result is anger and distrust.
"David Cameron tried to leave the [EPP] group in this [parliamentary] term, despite a commitment to stay until 2009. This was in contradiction to the commitment they had with our group," Poettering said. He also criticised Cameron's stance on ratification of the Lisbon treaty.
In her first public criticism of Cameron's European policies, Merkel told a campaign rally in Berlin at the weekend that you could not oppose the Lisbon treaty while urging more EU enlargement – the Conservative position. The treaty streamlining the way the EU is run is expected to come into force at the end of the year if the Irish support it in a second referendum in October. The Tories are fiercely opposed to Lisbon and promise a British referendum if they come to power with the treaty not fully ratified.
Merkel said: "We refuse to extend our hand to those who reject the Lisbon treaty ... and who at the same time speak of enlargement."
