Backlash threatens EU says Cameron

DAVID Cameron yesterday warned EU leaders they were risking a voters’ backlash in other member states like the one which lead to Britain voting for Brexit.

The former Tory Prime Minister told a summit in the Ukraine: “If politicians in the EU think populism has gone away – that is a mistake.” He was speaking after European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker earlier this week announced plans for the EU to crank up its drive towards European unity once the UK has left.

Mistake

EU chiefs are understood to believe that the election of centrist President Emmanuel Macron in France earlier this year and the expected return of German Chancellor Angela Merkel to office following elections later this month signal a revival of the EU dream.

But speaking at the Yalta European Strategy forum, Mr Cameron said: “The EU is making a mistake if they think simply because Macron had been elected and Angela Merkel will be elected again these problems will disappear – they haven’t.”

Mr Cameron said the UK referendum result was about the “growth of power of the EU”, which many citizens of the bloc disagreed with.

He said: “If your decision is going to be one all powerful presence, an EU army, tax rates imposed by major votes, no variable speeds – that is a mistake.

“There are too many people left behind. The rising tide did not lift all boats.”