Bill Carmichael: Why the PM is wooing Merkel

Mrs Merkel was fêted by senior Ministers and given the rare honour of addressing both Houses of Parliament in the hope that she will prove an ally, rather than a foe, in the debate over the future of the EU.

The Prime Minister is under severe pressure from the Eurosceptic wing of his party – pressure that will only intensify if Ukip do as well as expected in May’s elections to the European Parliament.

Cameron has responded by promising that if re-elected in next year’s General Election, he will seek to renegotiate the UK’s relationship with the EU with a view to repatriating some powers from Brussels. The result will then be put to the voters in a referendum in 2017 on whether we should stick with the EU or quit entirely.

One power he wants back at Westminster is control over our borders. Cameron is demanding changes to the EU’s freedom of movement regulations that allow EU citizens to live and work in any member state without the need for visa or work and residence permits.

In essence, he is attempting to change the rules of the club after we’ve joined. The problem for him is that free movement of labour, capital, goods and services is an essential part of EU membership and there is little appetite within the European Commission to water it down.

What happens if the Eurocrats simply say “non”? How then would an empty-handed and humiliated Prime Minster persuade British voters to stick with Europe?

This is where Mrs Merkel comes in. If Cameron has any hope of squeezing concessions from the EU, then he needs powerful allies within the eurozone – and they don’t come any stronger than the German Chancellor.

Cameron is hoping that the Germans will be sympathetic to tightening restrictions on freedom of movement because of fears of increasing “benefit tourism” in their own country.

The Germans are also pushing for treaty changes to increase central control over tax and spending in the eurozone countries – in order to prevent the rulers of Greece, Spain and Portugal from driving their economies off a cliff.

Those treaty changes would have to be agreed by the UK – giving the British some leverage in our demands for EU reform.

But perhaps the strongest point in Britain’s favour is the fact that the Germans are desperate for the UK to remain part of the EU. We are one of the few adults around the EU table. The Germans dread being left alone to deal with the French, who seem to think money grows on trees and that German taxpayers should subsidise them indefinitely.

Cameron is clearly desperate for the UK to remain part of Europe, despite rising anti-EU sentiment among voters, and he is hoping Angela Merkel will help him achieve that aim.

If he can persuade the German Chancellor to take Britain’s side, he will consider arranging lunch at Number 10 and tea with the Queen to be an effort well spent.

Stars in my eyes

My favourite story of the week was the tale of space-mad Wakefield schoolboy Lucas Whiteley, who, with the help of his dad, sent a video to Nasa asking questions about the stars and space travel.

Weeks later the four-year-old received a ten-minute video in reply from Nasa engineer Ted Garbeff answering his questions and giving him a virtual tour of the Ames Research Centre in California.

Lucas’s teachers at Sunny Hill Primary school were so impressed they showed the video in assembly. We need all the scientists and engineers we can get. Let’s hope Nasa’s video inspires some of those youngsters to reach for the stars.