Cameron to press EU on ebola aid

DAVID CAMERON is to urge fellow EU leaders to do more to tackle ebola in west Africa, warning that failure to halt the killer disease there would risk future cases in Europe.

And he will also use a European Council leaders’ summit in Brussels to set his face against MEPs’ demands for more money for the EU budget.

The meeting looks set to be overshadowed by talks scheduled for tomorrow among the 18 eurozone states over the latest crisis in the European single currency.

Mr Cameron will not take part in the eurozone discussions, but will make clear to fellow leaders that Britain is “not immune” to the impact of the decisions they make, because of the knock-on effect on UK manufacturing and exports.

With £125 million pledged, Britain is by far the largest European donor to the fight against ebola, and other EU states have so far failed to meet the Prime Minister’s challenge to provide a total of one billion euros (£790 million) and 2,000 medical workers to tackle the outbreak.

The UK’s contribution is four times what France has given and 50 times the amount provided by Spain, which has already experienced one ebola case.

Mr Cameron will also seek the support of all 28 member states for the position on Ukraine taken by him and three other EU leaders in Milan last week, when they told Russian president Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko that Europe wants to see the implementation of last month’s Minsk peace agreement, including more action by Moscow to halt the flow of weapons across the border.

Picture: AP. David Cameron greets Singapore’s president Tony Tan, who is on a state visit to Britain, on the steps of 10 Downing Street in London yesterday.