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DAVID Cameron was ridiculed by German leader Angela Merkel yesterday for lecturing eurozone leaders on the debt crisis.

She told the Prime Minister to “not pretend to be stronger than one actually is” – and raised the prospect of handing more power to Brussels without a British referendum.

The German Chancellor’s damning comments came as her finance minister claimed the UK would one day be forced to ditch the pound and join the euro.

Speaking at a tense conference with her in Berlin, Mr Cameron admitted: “It is obvious that we don’t agree on every aspect of European policy.”

Mrs Merkel slapped him down after he urged her to give the European Central Bank the green light to print enough money to pay off Europe’s soaring debts.

She is against his plan as it would be funded with German cash and would stoke inflation – hitting savers across northern Europe. She also said it would not be credible to the markets. Her blunt remarks reflected a wider anger towards Mr Cameron in Germany with newspaper headlines across the country openly mocking the PM’s handling of the British economy.

The respected magazine Der Spiegel branded the UK “the sick empire of Europe”, while others asked if we really wanted to stay in the EU.

The head of Mrs Merkel’s CDU party in the European Parliament, Werner Langen, attacked Mr Cameron, saying: “Europe can work well even without Britain.”

And the country’s finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble predicted the end of the pound, adding further embarrassment for the PM who had hoped to travel to Berlin in a position of strength.

He said he respects Britain’s decision not to join the euro, but predicted when the crisis was over the whole continent would eventually join, adding: “It will perhaps happen faster than some in the British Isles currently believe.”

Foreign minister Guido Westerwelle also piled in, making clear Germany’s determination to resist the UK’s pressure to allow the European Central Bank to rescue ailing eurozone economies.

He claimed the move would have dire consequences and echoed Mrs Merkel’s call for a new EU treaty to tighten rules on how much European governments can spend.

This would be a nightmare scenario for Mr Cameron if it went ahead as it would lead to calls from his restless backbenchers for a referendum on our EU membership.

Mr Westerwelle insisted he expected all 27 EU members to sign up to “limited treaty change”.

Mrs Merkel is hoping to use the upcoming summit of the European Council on December 9 to agree the amendments.

She said: “We feel it is crucial we develop more of a possibility of enforcing the rules of the European institutions so that national governments do abide by their commitments.

“A limited treaty change, only for the members of the eurozone, is of the essence.”

Former Tory PM John Major warned giving more powers to the EU to monitor countries’ spending would be undemocratic and add to euro-scepticism.

And Conservative MPs yesterday said it was unacceptable not to have a vote on the treaty changes, which they argue will pave the way for the 17 single currency states to form a powerful inner core.

Veteran eurosceptic Bill Cash said: “That would involve a fundamental change in our relationship with the EU and therefore a referendum is essential.”

Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander said Mr Cameron was “leaving Berlin just as isolated as when he arrived”.

Mrs Merkel and Mr Cameron were also forced to admit that they did not make any progress on solving their disagreement over plans to introduce an EU-wide financial transaction tax.

The charge, dubbed the Robin Hood Tax because it hits bailed-out banks, would fall disproportionately on London – Europe’s financial centre – and is fiercely opposed by the Government.

We aren't fooled by euro-spin

Analyis by Graham Hiscott, deputy business editor

IT seems there's only one lot more deluded than the Tories - Germany's political elite.

The Germans are so obsessed with steering the EU gravy train, they haven't noticed the wheels have come off.

Rather than full steam ahead, as Angela Merkel and her cohorts demand, the euro express has hit the buffers.

It's precisely because the UK didn't join the euro - with its one-size-fits-all economic straitjacket - that we're not in the same mess as Italy and others in the eurozone.

Yet some German politicians still think we'll "get in" and join the single currency.

This, as talk grows of the zonebie being put out of its misery, with some form of break-up.

Merkel's tough talk is more to do with appeasing her euro cheerleaders and, an interestingly sceptical, electorate back home.

Yet many in Germany can see through the euro-spin now that they're being forced to bail out other nations.

Germany has already scuppered a referendum in Greece and dreads the idea of one here in the United Kingdom.

It was public opinion that prevented the UK being sucked into the euro.

It's time politicians, both here and abroad, listened again. Maybe then common.