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| Cameron's willingness to adapt EU reforms riles Eurosceptics | Cameron's willingness to adapt EU reforms riles Eurosceptics |
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| David Cameron is prepared to soften the most controversial aspect of his EU reform plan, designed to limit migrants’ access to in-work benefits, in a move which shows the prime minister is willing to adapt his negotiations to keep Britain in the EU. | David Cameron is prepared to soften the most controversial aspect of his EU reform plan, designed to limit migrants’ access to in-work benefits, in a move which shows the prime minister is willing to adapt his negotiations to keep Britain in the EU. |
| Related: The Guardian view on David Cameron’s speech on Europe: time to end the phoney war | Editorial | |
| A succession of Tory MPs accused No 10 of throwing away a historic opportunity to renegotiate Britain’s EU membership after ministers signalled flexibility over plans to impose a four-year ban on European Union migrants claiming in-work benefits. | |
| “This is pretty thin gruel. It is much less than people had come to expect from the government,” the Eurosceptic backbencher Jacob Rees-Mogg said in the House of Commons after the Europe minister, David Lidington, had told MPs the government would happily consider other proposals from EU member states. | “This is pretty thin gruel. It is much less than people had come to expect from the government,” the Eurosceptic backbencher Jacob Rees-Mogg said in the House of Commons after the Europe minister, David Lidington, had told MPs the government would happily consider other proposals from EU member states. |
| Eurosceptic Tory MPs are alarmed by the signs that No 10 is listening to warnings from Brussels, where the president of the European parliament said the four-year ban on in-work benefits would flout EU law. Many fear the prime minister has decided to water down his reform plans to ensure he can campaign for Britain to stay in the EU. | |
| The Conservatives for Britain group, which had avoided formal membership of the Vote Leave campaign, is expected to change tactics within days and embrace it. | The Conservatives for Britain group, which had avoided formal membership of the Vote Leave campaign, is expected to change tactics within days and embrace it. |
| Sir Bill Cash, the veteran Eurosceptic chairman of the Commons European scrutiny committee, described the reforms as a pig in a poke. An exasperated Bernard Jenkin, the chairman of the Commons public administration and constitutional affairs committee, asked: “Is that it? Is that the sum total of the government’s position in this renegotiation?” | Sir Bill Cash, the veteran Eurosceptic chairman of the Commons European scrutiny committee, described the reforms as a pig in a poke. An exasperated Bernard Jenkin, the chairman of the Commons public administration and constitutional affairs committee, asked: “Is that it? Is that the sum total of the government’s position in this renegotiation?” |
| They signalled that the long-awaited formalising of the Tory split on the EU was under way after the prime minister underlined his determination to maintain Britain’s membership. In one of his most strongly pro-EU speeches, in which he outlined his plan to reform the UK’s relationship with the union, he said that the EU helps guarantee national security as he warned that Britain would lose its voice on the world stage if it left the EU. | |
| “Our membership of the EU does matter for our national security and for the security of our allies, which is one reason why our friends in the world strongly urge us to remain in the EU,” he said. “If the British prime minister was no longer present at European summits, we would lose that voice and therefore permanently change our ability to get things done in the world. We have every right to do that as a sovereign nation. But we should do so with our eyes open.” | “Our membership of the EU does matter for our national security and for the security of our allies, which is one reason why our friends in the world strongly urge us to remain in the EU,” he said. “If the British prime minister was no longer present at European summits, we would lose that voice and therefore permanently change our ability to get things done in the world. We have every right to do that as a sovereign nation. But we should do so with our eyes open.” |
| Related: An EU cliffhanger: that’s how the Cameron box set will end | Rafael Behr | |
| The prime minister spoke at Chatham House in London shortly before he outlined his four-point renegotiation plan in a letter to the European council president, Donald Tusk. In the six-page letter, the prime minister said: | |
| In the letter’s conclusion, Cameron told Tusk: “I hope and believe that together we can reach agreement on each of these four areas. If we can, I am ready to campaign with all my heart and soul to keep Britain inside a reformed EU that continues to enhance the prosperity and security of all its member states.” | In the letter’s conclusion, Cameron told Tusk: “I hope and believe that together we can reach agreement on each of these four areas. If we can, I am ready to campaign with all my heart and soul to keep Britain inside a reformed EU that continues to enhance the prosperity and security of all its member states.” |
| Government sources insisted that the prime minister was not abandoning his plan to place migration at the heart of his renegotiation plan. They acknowledged, however, that the four-year ban on in-work benefits and child benefits was proving the most challenging reform, and indicated that he was open to other ideas. | Government sources insisted that the prime minister was not abandoning his plan to place migration at the heart of his renegotiation plan. They acknowledged, however, that the four-year ban on in-work benefits and child benefits was proving the most challenging reform, and indicated that he was open to other ideas. |
| “If someone comes up with a better idea, of course we would listen,” one source said. Government officials are looking at plans that would deal with warnings that the ban would be discriminatory by introducing a residency test which would mean that the four-year ban on in-work benefits would apply to UK citizens for the first four years of adulthood. | “If someone comes up with a better idea, of course we would listen,” one source said. Government officials are looking at plans that would deal with warnings that the ban would be discriminatory by introducing a residency test which would mean that the four-year ban on in-work benefits would apply to UK citizens for the first four years of adulthood. |
| The government said that its overall objective, to reduce EU migration, must be addressed. Downing Street highlighted the importance of the issue by releasing figures overnight which showed that 43% of EU migrants are “supported by the UK benefits system”. | The government said that its overall objective, to reduce EU migration, must be addressed. Downing Street highlighted the importance of the issue by releasing figures overnight which showed that 43% of EU migrants are “supported by the UK benefits system”. |
| The figures were heavily qualified when the Department of Work and Pensions published an “ad hoc” report in support of the prime minister’s speech. The report said there was a degree of uncertainty over the figures, which lumped EU migrants claiming tax credits – top-up for low-paid workers – together with those claiming out-of-work benefits. | The figures were heavily qualified when the Department of Work and Pensions published an “ad hoc” report in support of the prime minister’s speech. The report said there was a degree of uncertainty over the figures, which lumped EU migrants claiming tax credits – top-up for low-paid workers – together with those claiming out-of-work benefits. |
| Downing Street made clear that it was spoiling for a fight with the Vote Leave group, which organised a protest against the prime minister during his speech at the CBI annual conference on Monday, when it released a lengthy point-by-point rejection of its claims. No 10 accused Vote Leave of releasing a “typo-ridden rebuttal document”. | Downing Street made clear that it was spoiling for a fight with the Vote Leave group, which organised a protest against the prime minister during his speech at the CBI annual conference on Monday, when it released a lengthy point-by-point rejection of its claims. No 10 accused Vote Leave of releasing a “typo-ridden rebuttal document”. |