Eurocrat-ess Viviane Reding, Vice-President of the European Commission, has gone all shouty crackers again. Last month the unelected, unaccountable Reding lashed out at Britain’s elected, accountable PM. Now she is making barely veiled threats about the consequences of renegotiation and hectoring the government about its welfare, education and immigration policies:

“The four freedoms enshrined in the EU treaties come as a package. You either enjoy all of them – or none. Those who benefit from the free flow of capital, goods and services must also accept that our citizens are free to move in the EU to travel, study and work. Politicians also need to work on the quality of education and welfare, so that people in this country can find employment and enjoy reasonable social standards.”

Reding also gave her audience at Cambridge University her advice for eurosceptics, not that anyone asked for it:

“The debate in this country about the UK’s place in the EU is distorted. All that talk about opt-outs, renegotiations and referenda distracts from the real issue. Unfortunately, the debate is distracting from the real challenge in the relationship between the UK and the EU. And it is even inflicting wider damage by holding back our Union as a whole. We don’t need this. What we need are great ideas and solid arguments about how we can strengthen the EU and make it more competitive on the world stage.”

It may not be how they do things in Brussels, but Ms Reding should know that here people don’t take so kindly to being told what they do and don’t “need” by unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats…