What austerity? On the eve of talks on curbing European spending, Lib Dem MEPs vote to INCREASE the Brussels budget All 12 Lib Dem MEPs defy national governments to demand 2% rise in 2014 Tories, Labour and UKIP voted against the plan for extra Brussels spending Embarrassment for Nick Clegg who tried to claim credit for budget cut Liberal Democrats in Brussels have defied public outrage to vote in favour of a bigger budget for the European Union. All 12 MEPs in Nick Clegg's party backed an increase in EU spending from a deal agreed earlier this year, despite calls from political leaders in the UK for austerity to apply at home and abroad. It is embarrassing for Mr Clegg, who tried to claim credit for securing the budget cut, and comes ahead of EU leaders meeting for talks tonight on the budget and boosting growth. Embarrassing: Nick Clegg, pictured on ITV Daybreak, claimed credit for the budget cut, which his own MEPs have voted to reverse Support: George Lyon MEP backed the budget increase along with fellow Lib Dem Fiona Hall MEPs were voting on a plan from the European Parliament to spend a massive €142billion next year, some 2 per cent more than national governments agreed in February. While Labour, Conservative and UKIP MEPs voted against the bigger budget, all Lib Dems backed it. While the budget will be 5 per cent lower than last year, it will still be €855million higher than the deal secured by Mr Cameron at crunch talks early this year. Leaders of Europe's national governments agreed on a total €908billion budget limit for 2014 to 2020 - about 3 per cent lower than the current seven-year period. Last night MEPs voted on the first year of the 2014-2020 budget round, and voted for a 2 per cent increase on what the European leaders agreed. Prime Minister David Cameron is in Brussels tonight for talks on curbing spending and cutting red tape The decision by the Lib Dems to endorse extra EU spending while defending cuts in the UK appears at odds with Mr Clegg, who in February boasted: 'I spent months making the case for the tough approach that we took with politicians around the European Union.' Shadow treasury minister Cathy Jamieson said: "Nick Clegg must explain why the Lib Dems voted yesterday for an increase in the EU Budget. At a time when families in Britain are facing a cost of living crisis and the deficit is high, we need restraint and reform of the EU Budget. That's why Labour MEPs voted against the European Parliament's proposal for a higher budget. And it's why we pushed for a real terms cut last year and defeated David Cameron in a vote in the House of Commons. However, the Lib Dems insisted they had secured a cut to the budget - just not as big as national governments wanted. A Lib Dem spokesman said: "Not a single Lib Dem MEP voted to increase the Brussels budget. They voted to cut it by 5.4 per cent, cutting £8billion from EU spending. Lib Dems also led cost-saving measures which cut £24million from MEP expenditure, supported a cut of £30billion from the seven-year budget, and backed a cut of 5 per cent in staff and pension costs to save a further £8billion over eight years. In February Mr Cameron celebrated a major diplomatic coup in Brussels after securing the first EU spending cut in its history. During 26 hours of talks, the Prime Minister also fought off attempts, led by France, to slash Britain's rebate. Mr Cameron's deal will save UK taxpayers hundreds of millions of pounds on what they would have been forced to pay under the European Commission's initial plans to increase the budget. However, our annual contributions will actually increase - because of Tony Blair's decision to surrender a chunk of the rebate, won by Margaret Thatcher in 1984, in return for reform of agricultural spending which never materialised. Split: Members of the European Parliament are at odds with the leaders of Europe's national governments over the size of the Brussels budget Mr Blair agreed in 2005 that investment spending in new eastern European members, which is rising as a proportion of the EU's budget, should no longer be subject to the rebate. Brussels red tape is "throttling" British business, David Cameron has warned ahead of the talks. It concludes they cost the economy £27.4billion a year - more than what the UK Treasury expects to raise in revenue from council tax.