Brown derided for late arrival at EU treaty signing

Gordon Brown shrugged off criticism that he had left Britain isolated in Europe as he finally signed the new EU treaty yesterday, three hours after his fellow leaders put pen to paper.

The Prime Minister upset pro-Europeans and Eurosceptics alike by missing the official signing ceremony in Lisbon yesterday lunchtime on the grounds that he had to answer questions from senior MPs in Parliament. Critics claimed he was too "gutless" to appear at the event and accused him of distancing himself from the EU's blueprint to pander to Britain's Eurosceptic newspapers.

His absence from the ceremony and the official "family photograph" of EU leaders at the 500-year-old Jeronimos Monastery raised eyebrows. "It sends a terrible signal to the rest of Europe that Britain doesn't really want to be part of the club," said one EU diplomat.

Nicolas Sarkozy, the French President, suggested that Mr Brown's absence was evidence of a lukewarm attitude to the EU. "We've all got problems to deal with. I personally think that we need Britain in Europe," he told reporters after the signing. "We need Gordon," he added in English.

Hugo Brady, of the Centre for European Reform think-tank, said: "There is no better manifestation of his lack of interest in Europe than his thinking that missing the signature would not be a big deal."

Mr Brown was the only one of the 27 EU leaders to miss the ceremony. In his absence, David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, took part. But he cut a rather lonely figure because the treaty was signed by both the leader and foreign minister of the other 26 member states.

Jose Socrates, the Portuguese Prime Minister, asked Mr Miliband where Mr Brown was. "On his way," the Foreign Secretary replied, tapping his watch. Even Nigel Farage, the leader of the UK Independence Party, which wants to pull Britain out of the EU, attended the event.

The Prime Minister arrived at the close of a working lunch of other EU leaders at a nearby coach museum. British officials said they were still "on the coffee" but some observers said half of the 26 had already left by the time Mr Brown put his name to the treaty. Looking rather uncomfortable, he had to be persuaded to look up for the TV cameras. He left after 15 minutes, going on to meetings with Jose Manuel Barroso, the European Commission President, and Mr Socrates, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency.

Earlier, Mr Brown laughed off the criticism when he arrived to take questions from MPs. "I think you can see the priority I attach to attending this committee," he said.

Brown allies dismissed the controversy as a storm whipped up by the media and denied it would harm relations with Britain's EU partners. But political opponents sought to exploit the fiasco. William Hague, the shadow Foreign Secretary, said: "Gordon Brown has left Britain with the worst of all worlds today. With a stroke of a pen he has signed away a swathe of powers to the EU, but his sulky rudeness to our European partners means that he has actually managed to lose influence in Brussels. This latest blunder is another sign that Gordon Brown is struggling to cope as Prime Minister."

Kenneth Clarke, the prominent pro-European Tory and former chancellor, said Mr Brown's "stunt" proved he was "not very good at international diplomacy" and was more concerned with newspaper headlines. "He's behaving rather childishly," he said.

Chris Huhne, the Liberal Democrat leadership contender and former MEP, said the Prime Minister was treating Britain's EU partners like mud. "Gordon Brown's no-show in Lisbon will please no one at home while raising serious questions about his good faith among our partners," he said.

The Prime Minister might have stayed away from Lisbon altogether but was persuaded to turn up late after criticism by the Foreign Office, other European leaders and the European Commission.

Read Andrew Grice online at www.independent.co.uk/todayinpolitics