Evening Standard comment: David Cameron to Europe ‘very well, alone’

Mr Cameron had never devoted enough time to the slog of negotiating with possible allies for reform, and as a result has been outmanoeuvred by European rivals
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David Cameron faces almost certain defeat today, as his battle to prevent Jean-Claude Juncker becoming the next president of the European Commission comes to a head at the Brussels summit. Yet the immediate fallout will not all be bad for the Prime Minister.

Mr Cameron’s struggle to block the former Luxembourg prime minister always looked quixotic: Mr Juncker has the support of the European Parliament’s dominant centre-Right EPP grouping, and that of German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Mr Cameron had never devoted enough time to the slog of negotiating with possible allies for reform, and as a result has been outmanoeuvred by European rivals. But at the same time he has made his point.

This is that the new two-speed EU needs reform and that Mr Juncker, a Brussels insider of the old school, is manifestly not the man to deliver it. It is a view that some other leaders share, even if they are not prepared to rock the boat by taking that position publicly. Just as important for Mr Cameron, going down with guns blazing at Mr Juncker will cement the temporary loyalty of some Eurosceptics in his own party, with little more than nine months until the General Election.

That does not, of course, help Mr Cameron with his concrete task of winning concessions over the terms of Britain’s EU membership. He knows he must do so ahead of a possible referendum in order to be able to present a credible alternative to either the status quo or the “Brexit” clamoured for by the Tory Right and Ukip. That will be an uphill struggle, though in truth probably no more difficult with Mr Juncker, rather than someone else, heading the EU’s executive. Either way, Mr Cameron has to play a difficult hand, harried as he is by his antagonists to the Right at home as well as rival interests abroad. His real European battle is just beginning.

Mayor Jowell?

Tessa Jowell MP’s comments today are the clearest signal yet that she is considering standing to be Labour’s London mayoral candidate in 2016. She highlights housing, affordable childcare and youth unemployment as areas needing a more serious approach than that offered by Mayor Boris Johnson, criticising his style as “just laughing from one speech to the next”.

The next mayoral race will be crucial, a race for the task of managing London’s future to 2020 at a time of rapid growth and perhaps a new national government. Boris Johnson has effectively ruled out a third term, with no clear Tory successor. A clutch of Labour hopefuls is mooted: this week Diane Abbott MP has fuelled speculation that she will throw her hat in the ring, with other possible runners including Andrew Adonis and MPs David Lammy and Sadiq Khan. Meanwhile, it is positive that heavyweight figures such as Ms Jowell are challenging Mr Johnson’s record, given the weakness of the London Assembly as a counterweight to his power. And such moves promise a real contest to lead London in 2016.

Tour de Londres

The arrival of the Tour de France in London next month will, as we report today, be an extraordinary spectacle. The world’s largest annual sporting event involves not only 200 of the fastest riders on Earth, but also a vast caravan of journalists, support staff and spectators. It will be a fine sight as the pack hurtles past Buckingham Palace and up The Mall a week on Monday — and offer some consolation that, while our footballing prowess has slipped, Britain has become a world leader in cycling.

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