Andrew Grice: When is a veto not a veto? Just ask Cameron

David Cameron won lots of praise from Conservative MPs and a bounce in the opinion polls when he vetoed an EU treaty to enforce budgetary discipline across the eurozone last month.

In fact, Mr Cameron's "veto" was little more than a walkout and the other 26 EU nations went ahead with the agreement anyway.

When EU leaders gathered in Brussels yesterday, Mr Cameron nodded through their "fiscal compact". Although he reserved Britain's right to take legal action over the use of the European Court of Justice to enforce it, that won't happen. His U-turn is complete.

The PM now has a different headache: placating the Europhobes who thought his tough stance last month showed he was "one of us." The next time he "vetoes" something, the Eurosceptics will be more sceptical.