U.K.’s Cameron denies he’s softening welfare demand in ‘Brexit’ debate

U. K. Prime Minister David Cameron’s government dismissed newspaper reports that he is backtracking on demands for changes to the welfare system as he tries to renegotiate Britain’s membership of the European Union. Cameron won’t use this week’s meeting with fellow European leaders to drop his proposal that EU migrants entering the U. K. wait four years before they can claim benefits, a government spokesperson said. Responding to reports that Cameron will instead ask counterparts to make proposals to rein in immigration, the spokesperson pointed to a November speech in which the prime minister said that he was “open to dif- ferent ways of dealing with this issue.” The Sunday Telegraph and Sun on Sunday were among the newspapers to cite sources as saying Cameron would switch strategies after other governments said his suggestion of a limit on benefits amounted to discrimination. Cameron sees the curbs as a way of putting off foreigners from moving to the U. K.