UK acting ‘unwisely’ over EU fiscal pact

The UK government is acting in a “profoundly unwise” way over the European Union’s new fiscal pact, according to the Tory Eurosceptic chairman of a parliamentary committee.

Bill Cash said the government was taking both political and legal risks by suggesting the need for action while failing to explain how it will carry it through or what concessions it seeks.

Mr Cash, Conservative MP for Stone in Staffordshire, spoke out as the European Scrutiny Committee, which he chairs, published a report into the Stability, Coordination and Governance Treaty, which is intended to resolve the crisis in the eurozone and is backed by 25 of the 27 EU governments, but rejected by the UK.

The committee warns that the treaty may be “politically impossible to enforce” and “some form of breakdown of the eurozone clearly remains possible”.

The committee said it felt the UK government should view the treaty as unlawful because it does not enjoy the unanimous support of all 27 EU members.