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David Cameron: 'No doubt' that Britain gains from being in EU David Cameron has 'massive change of tone' to pro-EU rhetoric, say yes campaigners
(about 4 hours later)
David Cameron has given his strongest indication that he is determined to keep Britain in the EU as he said there is “no doubt” the UK gains from its membership. David Cameron has embarked on a “massive change of tone” as Downing Street appears to prepare the ground for the prime minister to lead the campaign to keep Britain in the EU in the referendum, senior sources in the pro-EU camp have said.
As the two opposing groups in the EU referendum prepare to launch their campaigns, the prime minister indicated he has once again watered down his demands to try and secure a deal at a European summit in December. As Lord Heseltine said he could not imagine the circumstances in which the prime minister would campaign for a no vote, Cameron gave his strongest indication that he is determined to keep Britain in the EU when he said there is “no doubt” that the UK gains from its membership.
Cameron also suggested cabinet ministers may be given the right to campaign on either side in the referendum in an echo of the decision made by Harold Wilson in the 1975 referendum on Britain’s membership of the EEC. In an interview on The Andrew Marr Show on BBC1, the prime minister said: “There are things we get out of Europe, no doubt about it. We are a trading nation. We don’t just want access to Europe’s markets. We need a say over the rules. That is what we get sitting round that table.”
In an interview on The Andrew Marr Show on BBC1, the prime minister said he would rule nothing out about the negotiations. But he said he understood the frustration of some pro-Europeans, voiced by the transport secretary, Patrick McLoughlin, in an Observer interview, that the wider arguments in favour of the EU are rarely aired as ministers focus on the UK renegotiations. The intervention by the prime minister came as the two sides in the EU referendum prepare to launch their campaigns within the next week. Leading figures from the In Campaign, led by Will Straw and advised by Lord Mandelson, and the as-yet-unnamed campaign to take Britain out, led by Matthew Elliott, will both appear on The Andrew Marr Show on Sunday 11 October.
The prime minister said: “I understand that frustration. It is partly because I am involved in a negotiation. I am trying to get for Britain the things that we need. Obviously once I’ve got them then I will turn around and make the case for staying in a reformed Europe. But right now I am fighting to get these things and I can’t guarantee I will get them.” Sources in the two camps both agreed that the prime minister appeared in his television appearance to be adopting noticeably pro-EU rhetoric and appeared to be lowering expectations of what he can achieve in his EU negotiations. Cameron said it was important to ensure that EU migrants paid some UK taxes before claiming benefits but stopped short of outlining his plan to withdraw in-work benefits from EU migrants for four years.
Cameron outlined his reform plans but cast them in more general language. He spoke of the need to ensure that EU workers should only be able to claim UK benefits, such as tax credits, after paying into the British system. But he did not mention his proposal to prevent EU migrants from claiming in-work benefits for their first four years in Britain. One pro-EU source said: “There has been a massive change in tone. Ministers have looked at the polls – which show a 50/50 split if you take out those unlikely to vote – and suddenly realised that if you leave a vacuum then it is sceptics who gain.”
A source in the main “out” campaign said: “There has been a concerted attempt to lower expectations about what can be achieved in the negotiations. That will allow Downing Street to hail the supposed rabbit they hope to produce in the negotiations.”
Patrick McLoughlin, the transport secretary, set the new tone when he chastised the government and the media for failing to make the positive case for EU membership instead of “always looking on the negative side”. The pro-EU camp have been told that McLoughlin’s remarks reflect current thinking in No 10.
McLouglin’s remarks contrast with the claim by Sajid Javid, the business secretary, who criticised the CBI for weakening the government’s negotiating hand by voicing strong support for Britain’s EU membership. Javid has pulled out of a fringe meeting at the Tory conference on Monday with campaigners for both sides. The business secretary blamed a diary clash.
The prime minister sounded decidedly pro-European as he said he understood the frustration of some pro-Europeans that the wider arguments in favour of the EU were rarely aired as ministers focused on the UK renegotiations. The prime minister said: “I understand that frustration. It is partly because I am involved in a negotiation. I am trying to get for Britain the things that we need. Obviously once I’ve got them then I will turn around and make the case for staying in a reformed Europe. But right now I am fighting to get these things and I can’t guarantee I will get them.”
Cameron outlined his reform plans but cast them in more general language. He spoke of the need to ensure EU workers should only be able to claim UK benefits, such as tax credits, after paying into the British system. But he did not mention his proposal to prevent EU migrants from claiming in-work benefits for their first four years in Britain.
The prime minister challenged the call by Nigel Lawson, the former chancellor who is to take a leading role in the campaign to leave the EU, for national parliaments to be given the right to veto EU laws.The prime minister challenged the call by Nigel Lawson, the former chancellor who is to take a leading role in the campaign to leave the EU, for national parliaments to be given the right to veto EU laws.
He said: “I would amend those slightly and say where parliaments in Europe get together and want to block a proposal, yes that should be possible. That is one of the things that we are aiming for. That is important. In terms of borders, being able to keep the border controls we have, being able to make sure that our welfare system – you have to work in it and pay into it before you get out of it. I think these are important. The issue of child benefit – that you shouldn’t be able to come and work here, leave your children in another European country and get British levels of child benefit. These are the things I am going to fix.” Cameron also suggested cabinet ministers may be given the right to campaign on either side in the referendum, in an echo of the decision made by Harold Wilson in the 1975 referendum on Britain’s membership of the EEC. The prime minister said members of his government were bound by collective responsibility to accept his plan to renegotiate the terms of Britain’s EU membership – and to believe they could succeed – and then to hold a referendum on the outcome. But he suggested he could adopt a more flexible process when he appeared to say there could be different circumstances “at the end”. He was then interrupted and failed to develop the point.
In some of his most pro-European comments, the prime minister spoke of the wider benefits of EU membership as he said he would never be able to satisfy arch-Eurosceptics, such as the former environment secretary Owen Paterson, who want to leave the EU.
Cameron said: “There are things we get out of Europe, no doubt about it. We are a trading nation. We don’t just want access to Europe’s markets. We need a say over the rules. That is what we get sitting round that table.”
The prime minister said members of his government are bound by collective responsibility to accept his plan to renegotiate the terms of Britain’s EU membership – and to believe they can succeed – and then to hold a referendum on the outcome. But he suggested that he could adopt a more flexible process when he appeared to say that there could be different circumstances “at the end”. He was then interrupted at this point and failed to develop the point.
Lord Heseltine, the former deputy prime minister, said he could not see a situation where Cameron would ever lead the campaign to leave the EU. Challenged on whether this undermined the prime minister’s renegotiation strategy, he told BBC 5 Live: “You asked my opinion, not the prime minister’s opinion.”Lord Heseltine, the former deputy prime minister, said he could not see a situation where Cameron would ever lead the campaign to leave the EU. Challenged on whether this undermined the prime minister’s renegotiation strategy, he told BBC 5 Live: “You asked my opinion, not the prime minister’s opinion.”