Victory for MPs over anti-gay commissioner

EURO MPs were walking tall last night after winning a bitter battle of wills over an anti-gay commissioner.

The European Parliament forced a climbdown by European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso, who announced he would withdraw his planned new Commission team rather than face a humiliating ‘No’ vote in Strasbourg.

Rejection by a majority of MEPs was just an hour away when Mr Barroso changed tack and stopped insisting he was going to keep Italian Rocco Buttiglione as justice and home affairs commissioner.