THE British Foreign Secretary, Mr Malcolm Rifkind, last night, set himself firmly against the idea of a federal European "super state" by stressing the British government would resist unnecessary moves towards further unnecessary integration.
Mr Rifkind, opening the second day of a key debate on Europe in the Commons, said the government was "unshakeable" and would not budge "one inch" in the face of EU proposals for relaxed border controls.
The minister also hit back at the EU Commission President, Mr Jacques Santer, who last week warned Britain was approaching the "hour of truth" and had to decide whether it wanted Europe as a free trade area or as a political union.
Mr Rifkind said this represented a false choice "because reality lies between such poles".
"If Europe is more than a free trade area it is also less than a federal state," the Foreign Secretary said.
The Minister, who reaffirmed London's determination to exempt Britain from the 48 hour working week and to combat fish quota hopping, received a better response from his backbenchers than the Chancellor, Mr Kenneth Clarke, on Wednesday. Mr Clarke was jeered by Tory Euro sceptics when he set out the pros and cons of joining a single currency, but Mr Rifkind is more sceptical than his Cabinet colleague.
The two day debate ended last night, but the government headed off an embarrassing Commons defeat by tabling a technical motion to adjourn the House.
Mr Rifkind said: "If there is an hour of truth approaching, it is perhaps for the integrationists in Europe, who need to define the limits of their ambition."