The return of the Euro Sausage.

The Plot of the Yes Minister  episode Party Games has Sir Humphrey joining Jim hacker in manoeuvres to make the latter Prime Minister

 Sir Humphrey  calls Hacker to an impromptu meeting with Maurice, the EEC Commissioner. They use it to put forward their views over increasing interference in British affairs, in particular the problem of the Euro-sausage. They convince Maurice that it should be called the "British sausage."

However, the Minister then invites the press to his office to tell them that the sausage problem is far from resolved. He tells Bernard of his intention to manipulate the media by giving them bad news today and a triumph tomorrow.

His "non-story" makes all the front pages the next day and that evening, Hacker travels to a public meeting about fire and safety in government buildings. En route, he and Bernard hear a radio news report giving details of Eric and Duncan's decisions to bow out, but naming no compromise candidate. At the meeting (to which both BBC and ITN cameras have inexplicably been invited), Hacker takes the opportunity to give a passionate speech in defence of Britain against encroaching European regulations. He is given a standing ovation and enters number 10 as PM.

Since then life has imitated art as successive Prime Ministers have managed to either manufacture or escalate rows  with Europe in an attempt to bolster their standing  at home.

So when even they had known about it for months before David Cameron could be seen as

Red-faced with anger, the Prime Minister vowed to block payment of the “completely unacceptable” surcharge presented by EU officials in a surprise overhaul of national contributions.

“It is not acceptable, it is an appalling way to behave,” Mr Cameron said.
Calls for the UK to withdraw from the EU intensified yesterday following the cash demand, which will cost every family in the country £65

So when  EU finance ministers apparently  agreed to extend a deadline for Britain to pay its huge surcharge after London refused to pay before 1 December. 

The bloc’s finance ministers extended the deadline for Britain until September 2015 to pay the €2.1 billion surcharge in instalments.  

The agreement was announced shortly after the British Prime Minister David Cameron warned that there would be a "major problem" if a row with the European Union to pay the additional budget contribution remained unsettled

Analysts say the proposal to give Britain and other EU countries until September 2015 to pay would allow Cameron to save face by leaving the issue until after the election if he chose to.

However George Osborne's claim to have halved the UK's £1.7bn EU budget surcharge was "smoke and mirrors", Labour has said.The UK will pay two interest-free sums next year totalling £850m, instead of a larger lump sum by 1 December, after a rebate from Brussels due in 2016 appeared to have been brought forward.The chancellor said it was "far beyond what anyone expected us to achieve".But Labour's Ed Balls said he had not saved UK taxpayers "a single penny" while UKIP accused him of "spin".

The shadow chancellor said: 

"By counting the rebate Britain was due anyway, they are desperately trying to claim that the backdated bill for £1.7bn has somehow been halved.
"But nobody will fall for this smoke and mirrors. The rebate was never in doubt and in fact was confirmed by the EU Budget Commissioner last month."

So there we have it seize on something you already knew about but wait until you are approaching the deadline to voice your outrage..

Negotiate so that it is not implemented until after the General Election.

Claim that you have halved the payment when in fact all you have done is agreed to pay what you should without getting half back as  a rebate.
Hope that this will stop your voters deserting  you for Ukip.

Sir Humphrey and even the hapless Hacker would have sneered at this pathetic amateur duplicity