Tories in 
battle with Brussels over crime powers

The move was welcomed by Conservative MPs who had previously demanded an opt-out, with Prime Minister David Cameron facing growing pressure from anti-EU Tories unhappy with the current relationship with Europe.

But critics warned such a move could assist criminals through the scrapping of European arrest warrants – one of the measures included.

Rotherham MP Denis MacShane, former Minister for Europe under the Labour government, said: “What concerns me is that this announcement will be warmly received by traffickers, paedophiles and terrorist organisations, all of whom have been brought swiftly back to justice in Britain thanks to the European arrest warrant.

“This will only help all those who think that, by skipping over a nation’s boundaries, they can escape justice.

“It’s another slap in the face for the police.”

Mr MacShane added that Lib Dem leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, MP for Sheffield Hallam, should assert his authority.

When Mr Cameron last month signalled the opt-out could be used, Mr Clegg insisted that the policy remained under review.

“This is part of the campaign among Conservative Cabinet members to move Britain to the exit doors of Europe,” Mr MacShane said.

“It’s true that there are some anomalies with the EU arrest warrant but, overall, the idea that crime can be contained within national frontiers is a Conservative fantasy.”

The UK government must decide by 2014 whether to opt into the measures.

If it does opt out, the UK could apply to rejoin individual elements in future – but there are no guarantees this would be allowed.

A senior Lib Dem source told the Yorkshire Post today’s announcement would not be definitive and insisted there was still room for negotiation over the measures, with no final decision until it was agreed which elements to opt back into.

“The kind of people we should be listening to are the police and security services who say these measures are essential to public safety,” he said.

But the source played down a possible split within the coalition, adding: “We are confident that the Government will be able to work through these issues.”

However, the anti-Europe mood among Conservative Ministers was hardening, Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said yesterday.

“The mood has changed... because for the first time in a decade, those of us who are uncomfortable with the way that relationship has developed see an opportunity to renegotiate it,” he said.

Mr Hammond was responding to reports that Cabinet colleague Michael Gove, a close confidant of David Cameron, had told friends he would vote to quit the EU if there was an immediate referendum.

Dominic Raab, one of the leaders of a 100-strong group of MPs which demanded to opt out of the policing measures earlier this year, welcomed the move, saying it was a chance for a new relationship “based on practical co-operation not giving up democratic control”.

The Prime Minister is now under increasing pressure to hold a referendum over Europe, which last week he said would be the “cleanest, simplest, neatest” way of resolving question marks over Britain’s future in the organisation. However, he warned it would not take place before the next election.