“If the government comes with anything except a cut in the EU budget then they are not going to be able to get that through parliament — and they are going to need to get it through parliament in this case,” Reckless told BBC television.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, wants a budget of 1.03 trillion euros ($1.33 trillion) for 2014-2020, up 5.0 percent on 2007-2013, but seven major contributor states have balked at the increase at a time when they are having to cut spending at home.
It rejected on Tuesday a 50-billion-euro cut suggested by Cyprus, the current holder of the EU’s rotating presidency.
But Germany and France have joined Britain in insisting that the EU cannot expect to get more when national governments have to make do with less, demanding cuts in the 2014-2020 budget of 100 billion euros or more.
Wednesday’s parliamentary revolt puts renewed pressure on Cameron after months of blunders and U-turns by the coalition, which is halfway through its five-year term, and whisperings of a possible leadership challenge.
He is not the first Conservative premier to be haunted by Europe, an issue that has bitterly divided the party for decades.
Infighting over the bloc plagued the leadership of Britain’s last Conservative prime minister John Major, and was central to the downfall of Major’s predecessor Margaret Thatcher.
Europe is also likely to be an issue in the next general election, scheduled for 2015, amid growing scepticism about the EU among British voters.
Many Conservatives have called for a referendum on ending Britain’s membership of the bloc altogether. Cameron opposes an “in-out” referendum, but has hinted at a public vote on adjusting Britain’s relationship with the EU.
Cameron warned European Council president Herman van Rompuy at talks in London last week that Britain, which does not use the euro currency, could not support a sharp increase in the EU budget.
In December, Cameron dramatically parted ways with the bloc over the EU fiscal compact, which laid down the lines for tighter coordination of tax and spending policy amid the eurozone crisis.
