Britain's Clegg warns of isolation from EU

LONDON: British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg opened up tensions in the coalition government Sunday, warning that the country risks becoming an international "pygmy" after vetoing a new European Union treaty.

The leader of the pro-Europe Liberal Democrats spoke out despite a poll showing public support for Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron's decision to stay out of deal aimed at solving the eurozone debt crisis.

Clegg had at first publicly backed the prime minister after Friday's EU summit in Brussels, but he broke ranks on Sunday and said he had told Cameron the outcome was "bad for Britain".

He also hit out at so-called "eurosceptic" elements among Cameron's Conservatives who are now pushing for Britain to hold a referendum on its troubled membership of the EU.

But he denied that the Conservative-led coalition, which took power in 2010 with a mission to cut Britain's record deficit with a string of tough austerity measures, would now collapse.

Britain opted out of an agreement by the other 26 EU states to join a "new fiscal compact" at an all-night summit in Brussels on Friday, angering much of Europe in the process as it tries to prop up the euro.