DAVE ON RACK OVER EUROPE
TV mauling for Cameron as he dodges questions on Turkish veto
DAVID Cameron was subjected to a live TV mauling over his failure to curb EU immigration last night.
As the referendum campaign resumed after a three-day truce, an audience on a Question Time special ripped into the Prime Minister’s renegotiation deal.
Mr Cameron was even described as a ‘21st century Neville Chamberlain’ as he was accused of trying to sell his deal without the final agreement of EU leaders.
The Prime Minister also failed three times to say that he would veto Turkish EU membership – which will give its 77million citizens the right to free movement.
Mr Cameron was openly mocked when he claimed the changes he had secured would stop an influx of migrants from ‘flooding’ Britain’s public services.
Chamberlain promised ‘peace for our time’ after talks with Adolf Hitler in Munich in 1938. In fact, he had conceded to the Nazi occupation of much of Czechoslovakia – an act of appeasement which encouraged further aggression by Hitler.
Mr Cameron admitted he needed to do ‘better’ to get his message across – but appeared to compare his battle to stay in the EU to Churchill’s stand against Hitler.
An audience member pointed out that his deal with the EU to impose modest limits on migrant benefits had yet to be ratified by Brussels, saying: ‘You say that your policy that you’ve negotiated with Europe cannot be overruled – it can.
‘So are you really a 21st century Neville Chamberlain waving a piece of paper in the air saying to the public this is what I have, I have this promise where a dictatorship in Europe can overrule it. Simple answer – yes or no?’
When Mr Cameron said his plan would not be vetoed, some in the BBC audience laughed and jeered. He was also taken to task for ‘scaremongering’ by saying IS would be happy if Britain votes to leave the EU on Thursday and predicting economic meltdown.
During a 45-minute appearance, the PM was repeatedly pulled up over his record on managing immigration. One woman said: ‘I think that it’s an only logical thing to understand that if we have absolutely no limitations on immigration from the EU that people are obviously going to emigrate over here.’
Another asked: ‘Why in your manifesto did you say you would bring down the number of EU immigrants down to the thousands, when you knew very well you couldn’t?’
Mr Cameron, who floundered over some of his immigration answers, said leaving the EU ‘damaging our economy, costing jobs and hurting British working families in the process, that’s not the right way to control immigration’.
Challenged by an audience member about why Remain is not in the lead, he said: ‘I think people have found this debate quite confusing. I have got four days to go. With your entreaties I have got to do better at getting (my arguments) across.’
In response to the Neville Chamberlain attack, Mr Cameron appeared to compare himself to Winston Churchill fighting to secure the future of Europe, saying: ‘He didn’t quit, he didn’t quit on Europe, he didn’t quit on European democracy, he didn’t quit on European freedom.’
Ten Nobel-prize winning economists have written to the Guardian to say: ‘Brexit would create major uncertainty about Britain’s alternative future trading arrangements, both with the rest of Europe and with important markets like the USA, Canada and China.’
Vote Leave chief executive Matthew Elliott last night said: ‘You cannot trust Cameron on Turkey.’
He said the Prime Minister had refused to say he would veto Turkey joining ‘because – in his own words – he is the “strongest possible advocate” of Turkey joining.
‘He has said before that he is “angry” that it is taking too long for Turkey to join.’
‘Damaging our economy’