Jose Manuel Barroso defends EU finance figures

The European Commission's president has said that calculations for how much member states contribute to the EU are based on figures provided by the countries themselves, using an agreed formula.

Jose Manuel Barroso was speaking after Prime Minister David Cameron angrily insisted the UK would not pay a £1.7bn bill being demanded by the European Union by next month.

The surcharge follows an annual review of the economic performance of EU member states since 1995, which showed Britain had done better than previously thought.