David Miliband reacted angrily yesterday after a Labour MP accused him of behaving like Neville Chamberlain in defending the EU reform treaty.

The Foreign Secretary, whose Jewish father fled from Belgium to London to escape the Germans in 1940, demanded – and won - an apology from Michael Connarty. The chairman of the European Scrutiny Committee had said that Mr Miliband’s defence of the treaty reminded him of Mr Chamberlain’s infamous boast to have secured “peace in our time”.

The reference ignited an already ill-tempered session. Mr Connarty, the Labour MP for Linlithgow and East Falkirk, was attacking Mr Miliband for defending new financial penalties on Britain for opting out of EU measures proposed in a new version of the treaty when he made the remark.

Describing the new provisions as “bullying clauses” Mr Connarty said he was shocked that the Foreign Secretary had agreed to them. “I have visions of ‘peace in our time’ when you speak, Secretary of State,” he said.

Mr Miliband fired back that he was “cut to my absolute quick” by the comparison. “Maybe I feel this particularly personally but to say that this is the equivalent of Neville Chamberlain coming back from Munich claiming to have an agreement with Adolf Hitler – that is not worthy.”

He won an apology from Mr Connarty but it was a rare respite in more than two hours of hostile questioning.

The committee rejected Mr Miliband’s assertion that Britain had met its “red line” commitment to be able to opt in to all justice and home affairs policies to defend British sovereignty.

Moreover it pointed out that the decision in the treaty to make all EU justice and home affairs matters subject to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice was a constitutional change in the way Europe was run.

Mr Connarty praised Mr Miliband’s robust defence of the Government’s red lines but added that the new terms of the opt-in were “punitive” because Britain could be kicked out of entire policy areas for choosing not to take part in an amendment. “These are bullying clauses and I am shocked that you tried to defend them,” Mr Connarty said.

Times Recommends

• Forces chief faces new battle - the economy
• Seven days that shook the world
• Icelanders wake up and smell ... the fish