British Conservative Eurosceptics see opportunity in euro crisis

LONDON - The eurozone debt crisis is emboldening some British Conservatives to demand Prime Minister David Cameron scale back or cut ties with Europe, threatening to reopen a battle that nearly tore the party apart in the 1990s.

Conservative right-wingers are increasingly frustrated with the compromises they feel party leader Cameron is being forced to make on Europe and other leading issues to keep the support of the pro-European Liberal Democrats, the minority partner in Britain's 16-month-old coalition government.

They are starting to flex their muscles over Europe, seeing the eurozone debt crisis as an opportunity to press their demands for Britain to repatriate powers from Brussels or even to withdraw from the 27-nation bloc.