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After Wednesday's vote in the House of Commons, David Cameron could find himself the last "pro-European" in Britain. He will leave for Brussels next month for the seven-year EU budget summit trying to hang tough, but outflanked by his party rebels and by Labour, all wanting him to hang even tougher. He wants to keep the EU budget in line with inflation. The others want it slashed. Whatever next?

The EU budget is a flatulent confection of national, industrial and sectoral lobbies. It has never passed audit and makes Britain's Ministry of Defence seem a haven of cheese-paring efficiency. Cameron may want to keep it within inflation, but that makes no difference. Even the German compromise, for a modest cut, may not be agreed. Cameron thus finds himself trapped...