Politics: When it comes to the crunch, Cameron will choose his party over Europe

Downing Street’s negotiating team returned from Berlin last Friday afternoon in good spirits. Angela Merkel had accepted that Britain deserved concessions as part of Germany’s plan for a new European treaty. The Prime Minister was delighted, believing this to be a significant moment.

This was a first step in David Cameron’s  long-term plan: to refashion Britain’s membership of the European Union, but to do so gradually rather than in one big-bang moment.