Vicky Ford, Conservative MEP for the East of England, today congratulated the Prime Minister on getting a  reduction to the EU budget at the Brussels summit on the EU's Multi-annual Financial Framework.

Mrs Ford commented: "It is quite right that the EU should be asked to find savings. The size of the budget matters, but so too does how it is spent.

We in the UK should be looking not just at the EU budget but whether we get our fair share from other organisations like the European Investment Bank and the European Investment Fund. Funding for research and infrastructure is vital for growth and jobs in the East of England, I am already looking at the details of these programs, talking to companies and councils to make sure we access all of these funding areas better than in the past.