William Hague rejects Tony Blair's vision of elected EU president

Tony Blair's vision for an elected president of the European Union has been dismissed by William Hague, who insisted its members had more pressing priorities.

Asked about the former prime minister's call for further European integration and the creation of an elected head, the Foreign Secretary suggested that Mr Blair was thinking of the role for himself. "I can't think who he had in mind," Mr Hague joked.

He added: "Elected presidents are for countries. The EU is not a country. It is a group of countries working together.

"So the appropriate solution is not an elected president for a group of countries, it's for those countries each to promote economic growth in their countries, to bring their deficits under control."

Mr Blair argued that Europe needed greater unity in order to have influence with rising powers such as China, India and Brazil.