The UK’s main problem in influencing reform in Europe is that it is regarded as a semi-detached member

A string of moves by the Tory party: withdrawal of British Conservative MEPs from the EPP-ED caucus, opposition to Jean-Claude Juncker as Commission president, demands to overturn freedom of movement, and refusal to pay Britain’s recalculated dues, simply reinforces the impression that the British government is less and less interested in the EU and in working constructively within it, writes Gordon McKechnie.