Blair asked to deliver on EU budget

Following their meeting on Thursday, EU leaders complimented Tony Blair on the good atmosphere during the discussions, but could not disguise the fact that the difficult questions surrounding the budget have not disappeared.

Although EU money issues were not supposed to be at the centre of the summit, most of the speakers round the negotiating table said the UK presidency should try and hammer out a deal in December.

This would be some six months after member states fell out when ...