Blair ups stakes on EU budget - papers 15th June

The Guardian quotes the prime minister speaking at a solo press conference at the British embassy in Paris after talks with Jacques Chirac. It says he admitted that there was now "sharp disagreement" between Britain and France over the EU budget. "It is very difficult to see how these differences are going to be bridged," he said. MEANWHILE the Financial Times says Blair rejected suggestions that a failure to agree a budget deal when EU leaders meet would fuel the political crisis caused by the Franco-Dutch rejection of the EU constitution. The paper adds that Blair’s comments did not ...