:00:38. > :00:47.No surprise that Mr Cameron didn't get his way at the European summit.
:00:48. > :00:51.But does it mean Britain has just moved closer to the EU exit?
:00:52. > :00:54.Doctors want to ban smoking outright.
:00:55. > :00:57.A sensible health measure or the health lobby's secret plan all
:00:58. > :01:31.And with me, as always, the best and the brightest political
:01:32. > :01:42.panel in the business Nick Watt Helen Lewis and Janan Ganesh.
:01:43. > :01:44.They've had their usual cognac, or Juncker as it's known in
:01:45. > :01:47.Luxembourg, for breakfast and will be tweeting under the influence
:01:48. > :01:49.He's a boozing, chain-smoking, millionaire bon viveur who's made
:01:50. > :01:51.it big in the world of European politic.
:01:52. > :01:55.I speak of Jean-Claude Juncker, the former Prime Minister of Luxembourg
:01:56. > :01:59.He'll soon be President of the European Commission,
:02:00. > :02:05.He wasn't David Cameron's choice of course.
:02:06. > :02:08.But those the PM thought were his allies deserted him and he ended up
:02:09. > :02:23.on the wrong end of a 26-2 vote in favour of Arch-Fedrealist Juncker.
:02:24. > :02:27.-- on the wrong end of a 26-2 vote in favour of Arch-Federalist
:02:28. > :02:29.So where does this leave Mr Cameron's hopes
:02:30. > :02:32.of major reform and repatriation of EU powers back to the UK?
:02:33. > :02:37.Let's speak to his Europe Minister David Lidington
:02:38. > :02:43.Welcome to the programme. The Prime Minister says that now with Mr
:02:44. > :02:46.Juncker at the helm, the battle to keep Britain in the EU has got
:02:47. > :02:51.harder. In what way has it got harder? For two reasons. The
:02:52. > :02:57.majority of the leaders have accepted the process that shifts
:02:58. > :03:01.power, it will not careful, from the elected heads of government right
:03:02. > :03:09.cross Europe to the party bosses, the faction leaders in the European
:03:10. > :03:18.Parliament and and the disaffection was made clear in many European
:03:19. > :03:21.countries. Mr Juncker had a distinguished period as head of
:03:22. > :03:24.Luxembourg, and was not a known reformer, but we have to judge on
:03:25. > :03:26.how he leads the commission and there were some elements in the
:03:27. > :03:32.mandate that the heads of government gave this week to the new incoming
:03:33. > :03:37.European Commission that I think are cautiously encouraging for us. The
:03:38. > :03:43.Prime Minister talked about those that not everybody wants to
:03:44. > :03:49.integrate and to the same extent and speed. Let me just interrupt you.
:03:50. > :03:53.What is new about saying that Europe can go closer to closer union at
:03:54. > :04:02.different speeds? That has always been the case. It's nothing new
:04:03. > :04:12.Indeed there are precedents, and they are good examples of the
:04:13. > :04:17.approach as part of the course and one of the elements that the Prime
:04:18. > :04:20.Minister is taking forward in the strategy is to get general
:04:21. > :04:25.acceptance that while we agree that most of the partners have agreed to
:04:26. > :04:28.the single currency will want to press forward with closer
:04:29. > :04:33.integration of their economic and tax policies, but not every country
:04:34. > :04:38.in the EU is going to want to do that. We have to see the pattern
:04:39. > :04:42.that has grown up enough to recognise there is a diverse EU with
:04:43. > :04:48.28 member states and more in the future. We won't all integrate the
:04:49. > :04:53.extent. It is a matter of a pattern that is differentiation and
:04:54. > :04:56.integration. I understand that. John Major used to call it variable
:04:57. > :05:01.geometry, and other phrases nobody used to understand, but the point is
:05:02. > :05:04.that you're back benches don't want any union at any speed, even in the
:05:05. > :05:10.slow lane. They want to go in the other direction. It depends which
:05:11. > :05:23.backbencher you talk to. There's a diverse range of views. I think that
:05:24. > :05:26.there is acceptance that the core of the Prime Minister's approaches to
:05:27. > :05:29.seek reform of the European Union, for renegotiation after the
:05:30. > :05:33.election, then put it to the British people to decide. It won't be the
:05:34. > :05:37.British government or ministers that take the final decision, it's the
:05:38. > :05:39.British people, provided they are a Conservative government, who will
:05:40. > :05:43.take the decision on the basis of the reforms that David Cameron
:05:44. > :05:47.secures whether they want to stay in or not. Is there more of a chance,
:05:48. > :05:53.not a certainty or probability, but at least more of a chance that with
:05:54. > :05:59.Mr Juncker in that position of Britain leaving the EU? I don't
:06:00. > :06:03.think we can say that at the moment. I think we can say that the task of
:06:04. > :06:11.reform looks harder than it did a couple of weeks ago. But we have do
:06:12. > :06:23.put Mr Juncker to the test. I do think he would want his commission
:06:24. > :06:28.to be marked and I think that there is, and I find this in numbers
:06:29. > :06:32.around Europe, and there is a growing recognition that things
:06:33. > :06:35.cannot go on as they have been. Europe, economically, is in danger
:06:36. > :06:40.of losing a lot of ground will stop millions of youngsters are out of
:06:41. > :06:43.work already that reform. There is real anxiety and a number of
:06:44. > :06:45.countries now about the extent to which opinion polls and election
:06:46. > :06:50.results are showing a shift of support to both left and right wing
:06:51. > :06:53.parties, sometimes outright neofascist movements, expressing
:06:54. > :07:01.real content and resentment at Howard in touch -- how out of touch
:07:02. > :07:05.decisions have become. You say you are sensing anxiety about the
:07:06. > :07:10.condition of Europe, so why did they choose Mr Juncker then? You would
:07:11. > :07:17.have to put that question to some of the heads of European government.
:07:18. > :07:19.Clearly there were a number for whom domestic politics played a big role
:07:20. > :07:21.in the eventual decision that