“A deal on the European Union budget looks unlikely after several hours of talks between EU leaders in Brussels failed to bridge differences…

“the summit is growing into a bitter feud about what Europe is for and who should decide its future. Sweden has suggested it may be best to put off any budget decision for a year.

“On Friday morning Mr Chirac said it would not be enough to freeze the British rebate and he wanted to see it scrapped altogether.

“He also said the rebate should ‘under no circumstances be linked to a reform of farm expenditure’…

“while some states sympathise with the UK call for agriculture spending reform, none supports the UK’s rebate remaining in place.”

Chirac is playing hardball. What a cock. But by the looks of things it’ll take a little bit more before the rest of Euope gets pissed off with him enough to start backing Blair. Which, considering Blair’s also a cock, is probably fair enough.