UK: EU Budget plan 'astonishing'

The British Government has launched a fresh attack on “astonishing” plans for an inflation-busting long-term budget for the European Union.

The UK's Europe minister David Lidington, in Brussels for talks with Euro-MPs, warned afterwards: “We are facing the biggest financial crisis in a generation. The way to respond to this is with budgetary restraint and the people of Europe will not accept a business-as-usual budget (for the EU).”