The European Parliament calls for a 6% rise in EU spending in 2011 while EU members scramble to tighten their belts after building massive deficits as a result of the global financial crisis.

The UK’s Europe minister calls the budget request outrageous.

On a separate note, the minister said that the UK and France are having very serious discussions about enhanced defense cooperation. The UK is obviously looking to out-source its contingencies for surrender

;)