That budget

The new budget has been "unveiled" by the Commission, still to be agreed to by the European Parliament. As it is proposed, both sides will get what they wanted and the Boy-King has been kicked in the behind.

Revised plans for next year's euro-budget have been unveiled - sticking to a 2.9% increase demanded by EU ministers in the face of continuing efforts by MEPs to win a 6% rise.

But the European Commission insisted there were new concessions to MEPs in its latest proposals, in the form of a "contingency fund" of up to 3.5 billion euro (£3 billion) in the event of "unforeseen circumstances".

We shall see if the MEPs will demand a bigger concession.