Cabinet unease over the EU deal - IDS puts his oar in
Hit news from Cabinet this morning. Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith asked for reassurances about whether British interests are properly protected under the new non-EU treaty.
My information is that he is still seeking further reassurance from lawyers - which means that he is not yet satisfied.
Owen Paterson also made comments at Cabinet, which will remind people there are two big eurosceptic beasts at the coffin shaped table.
This is not good for David Cameron, who is, as I write, having a dreadful time in the Commons at the hands of Ed Miliband, on superb mocking form, and Tory sceptics who are as cynical and unconvinced as ever.
It's nos clear that Conservative misgivings reach the highest levels of the party.
Senior Tory backbencher David Davis was clearly very well informed (as ever) when he said on R4: “As we have seen in other issues, the advice the Prime Minister gets from Whitehall isn’t always that good, and what happened will highlight that. He may think again.”
To balance this, another sceptic who is now on the Government payroll tells me: "It's fuss about nothing - there is no way that this treaty empowers the other states more than if it did not exist."
One prediction from me: This Europe row will NOT lead the news bulletins tonight. It is a village issue - let's keep that perspective.
Joe Murphy
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