Cameron’s Juncker move a ‘cack-handed’ catastrophe

David Cameron’s "cack-handed" failed bid to block Jean-Claude Juncker’s appointment is a "catastrophe" for Britain, Labour has claimed.

The party is attempting to keep up the pressure on the prime minister over his defeat on the arch-federalist’s nomination as the next president of the European Commission, which it claims has taken Britain closer to the “exit door” that could put three million jobs and tens of thousands of businesses at risk.

Business leaders have also warned that the country’s economic success depends on it remaining a full member of the European Union.

But William Hague refused to be drawn on whether pulling out of the EU would be a disaster, insisting the decision was “up to the British people”.

The foreign secretary said it was “far too early to say” if the government would fail to renegotiate Britain’s relationship with Brussels. “The prime minister acknowledged that the task had got harder when he spoke after this on Friday,” he told BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show. “But look at the track record of the last few years. He is the first prime minister to negotiate an actual reduction in the European budget.”

Asked if it would be a disaster to exit, he replied: “This will be the debate in the referendum. I have always argued against more power going to the European Union, but for us to be a member of Europe but not run by Europe. The British people will decide in a referendum whether that is sustainable or not.”

Mr Hague refused to comment on claims in the Mail on Sunday that Mr Juncker is a heavy drinker.

“I’m not going to go into any personal matter about Jean-Claude Juncker,” he said. Shadow chancellor Ed Balls branded the failed negotiations a “catastrophe for Britain and the national interest. I’ve never seen a negotiation so cack-handed.” He told Marr, “We won’t be influential in the world, unless we are influential in Europe.”