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| EU referendum: Major warns against 'flirting' with EU exit | EU referendum: Major warns against 'flirting' with EU exit |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Sir John Major has warned David Cameron against "flirting" with leaving the EU "at a moment when the whole world is coming together". | Sir John Major has warned David Cameron against "flirting" with leaving the EU "at a moment when the whole world is coming together". |
| The former prime minister said Thursday's EU reform talks should not be regarded as "High Noon". | |
| And they "should not decide whether or not we remain inside the European Union", he told BBC Radio 4's Today. | |
| Mr Cameron has refused to rule out campaigning for an exit if the EU does not agree to his reform demands. | |
| Sir John, whose seven years in Number 10 were dominated by internal Conservative Party rows over Britain's future in Europe, said he was not a "starry-eyed European" and he could understand "frustrations" with the EU, which were "entirely justified". | |
| He also said he could not "get inside" David Cameron's mind - and was anxious not to become a "backseat driver" to the prime minister. | |
| But he said "flirting with leaving at a time when the whole world is coming together is very dangerous and against our national interests". | |
| He said the UK should not "break off" and head into "splendid isolation". | |
| He said there would be a "high probability" Scotland would have another independence referendum and the UK's international standing would also suffer. | |
| The UK would not be better able to control immigration, nor would it make the UK Parliament more sovereign because to trade with the EU "we would have to accept its regulations," added Sir John. | |
| "If we leave the EU it won't be a friendly departure, it will be very acrimonious," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. | |
| 'Controversial' demand | |
| He said he could understand why Mr Cameron had decided to hold a referendum on remaining in the EU to end the "long-running and tiresome" row about the issue - but he predicted that the British people vote to stay in. | |
| Mr Cameron will join other EU leaders in Brussels on Thursday for substantial talks on the UK's demands for reform. | |
| A deal could pave the way for the government to announce when it will hold an in/out referendum on Britain's membership, which Mr Cameron has promised will be held by 2018. | |
| European Commission President Donald Tusk has said Thursday's talks should "pave the way" for an agreement by the next gathering of EU leaders in February. | |
| Mr Tusk said the discussions should focus on the "most controversial" elements of Mr Cameron's reform demands, which are likely to centre on his calls for a four-year wait before EU migrants can receive working-age benefits. | |
| "The stakes are so high that we cannot escape a serious debate with no taboos," Mr Tusk said. | |
| Mr Cameron is reported to have warned in private that he will lead the EU exit campaign if he does not get what he wants from other EU leaders. His public comments have been more measured, with the PM repeatedly saying he "rules nothing out". | |
| UK's EU referendum in-depth | |
| Q&A: What Britain wants from Europe | |
| Guide to the UK's planned in-out EU referendum | |
| BBC News EU referendum special report |