Britain left out in the cold as 26 members sign treaty

Britain's relationship with Europe has been dealt a further blow as the nine European states who last night opted not to sign up to the new European treaty have had a change of heart.

The nine countries- Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Sweden - have signaled they are ready to join the 17 members of the eurozone to draft a new intergovernmental treaty for deeper fiscal union. It aims to tackle the sovereign debt crisis and give European markets a much needed confidence boost. "The heads of state of nine out of the ten states who did not sign up to the treaty have indicated the possibility to take part in this process after consulting their Parliaments where appropriate," say the draft conclusions. The revised sta...