David Cameron threatens to veto EU budget unless Brussels sacks staff

The Prime Minister said he is proud of his "pretty outspoken" reputation among European leaders and stands ready to block any new spending plans that fail to tackle Brussels waste.

Speaking after a two-day summit, Mr Cameron directly challenged the EU to take "more rigorous" action to cut costs or face another veto from the UK.

"If there isn't a deal that's good for Britain, there won't be a deal," he said. "We can't have European spending go up and up and up when we're having to make difficult decisions in so many different areas."

Mr Cameron said his "favourite" fact about Brussels over-spending is that 16 per cent of administrative staff at the European Commission earn more than €100,000 or more than £80,000 a year.

"What we've done in Britain is we have cracked down on central administration, the cost of Whitehall, and on the numbers of people employed to release money for things that are more important," he said. "We need to see in the budget proposals that sort of rigorous approach. There is a deal that can be done but it can't be a deal that involves spending a lot more money."

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