NICK Clegg stayed away as David Cameron made his Commons statement on his momentous EU veto yesterday.

The Liberal Democrat leader said later that he had feared his presence would be a "distraction", just hours after he publicly attacked the prime minister's decision to block the agreement.

A downbeat Mr Clegg gave TV interviews in which he insisted the Coalition was "here to stay" until 2015, but admitted: "The prime minister and I clearly do not agree on the outcome of the summit last week."

In the Commons, Labour MPs taunted the absent deputy prime minister, urging Mr Cameron to "send out a search party", while one Conservative backbencher accused him of "cowardice".

However, Mr Cameron enjoyed an easy ride as he explained why - for the first time in Britain's history - he vetoed a proposed new EU treaty, to try to solve the Eurozone crisis.

The prime minister told MPs he negotiated in "good faith" but had been forced to block a treaty of all 27 member states after they refused to agree to safeguards for the City of London.

But, in one of his strongest Commons performances, Labour leader Ed Miliband accused Mr Cameron of not wanting a deal because he knew his MPs would not vote for it back in Britain.

Mr Miliband said: "He has exposed, not protected, British business and he has come back with a bad deal for Britain. Few could have anticipated the diplomatic disaster of 26 going ahead and one country - Britain - being left behind."

Last night, Southport MP John Pugh - often a fierce Coalition critic - offered sympathy for the prime minister's position in the Brussels talks.