Britain must leave EU demands ex- minister
A SENIOR former Tory Cabinet minister is today set to call for Britain to leave the European Union.
The UK could have a “spectacular” future outside the EU, former Environment Secretary Owen Paterson will tell a conference.
He will defy David Cameron by backing the Daily Express crusade for Britain to quit, declaring: “We have to leave.”
Mr Paterson, who was sacked by the Prime Minister last summer, will be a key speaker at the meeting in central London.
The conference, entitled “Alternatives to EU Membership”, is being held at Westminster’s Europe House, the London base of the European Commission and the European Parliament.
Mr Paterson, whose remarks today embrace the idea of a UK exit from the EU more forcefully than any other senior Tory for many years, will say: “We can leave the political and judicial arrangements of the EU which cause us so much grief at the moment, and we could become really active, major players.
“I see a huge optimistic vision for this country, a really spectacular future, but to do it and to get there, we have to leave.” The conference is also set to cause embarrassment for Ed Miliband with a leading Labour donor planning to attack Labour’s failure to match the Tory pledge of an in- or- out EU referendum.
Businessman John Mills will say: “If Ed Miliband becomes Prime Minister in May and renegotiates without committing to a referendum, he will inevitably weaken the UK’s bargaining position.
“There are many in the Labour Party who are united in their belief that the British people must be given an EU referendum to put this issue to bed once and for all.”