Major push launched to keep UK in EU

Cameron urges London Mayor not to join EU leave campaign Overwhelming majority of cabinet backs deal

LONDON, Feb 21, (Agencies): David Cameron has launched a major push to win support for his call to keep Britain inside what he says is a “reformed” European Union ahead of a June 23 referendum.

The British prime minister used a TV appearance Sunday to emphasize that Britain’s national security is best served by staying in the 28-nation bloc. He cited emerging challenges from Russia and the rise of extremist groups in the Middle East as threats better dealt with as part of an alliance.

“In a world where you have got Putin to the east and ISIL-DAESH to the south, how do you stay strong?” he asked, using alternative acronyms for the Islamic State group. “By sticking with your neighboring countries, your partners and your friends.”

Cameron has seen Justice Secretary Michael Gove and several junior ministers defect to the “leave” campaign, but he has so far held the major figures in his Cabinet on his side in the referendum debate that is dividing his Conservative Party.

Both sides are waiting anxiously for London Mayor Boris Johnson to state his position on the referendum, with “leave” forces hoping he might lead the charge to break free of EU rules and regulations.

His decision is expected to be announced later Sunday, although his office has declined to specify a time.

Campaign

Nigel Farage, the UK Independence Party chief who is playing a prominent role in the “leave” campaign, said he “absolutely” wants Johnson to join the group rejecting the EU.

Cameron plans to start the formal referendum process Monday by going to Parliament to set the wheels in motion for the June 23 date.

He is arguing that those who support Brexit, or a British exit from the bloc, because it would slow the flow of migrants into Britain are mistaken.

He said that any trade deal Britain would negotiate with the EU if it left the bloc would have to allow the free movement of labor in order to satisfy EU demands.

The prime minister also cautioned that it if Britain pulls out, it would take years to negotiate such a deal, giving British companies access to European markets.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister David Cameron urged rival Boris Johnson on Sunday not to join the campaign for a British exit from the European Union as the London mayor kept Britain LONDON, Feb 21, (AFP): Prime Minister David Cameron has cleared some key hurdles as he takes his first steps in what promises to be a bitter campaign ahead of an EU membership referendum in June, experts said.

Starting with a reform deal struck at a European Union summit on Friday, Cameron went on to secure the support of the overwhelming majority of his cabinet on Saturday.

“Cameron did well politically with the other member states” and “the best that he could” with eurosceptics within his own Conservative Party, John Springford, a research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, told AFP.

Cameron says the deal in Brussels confers a “special status” on Britain, protecting its status as a non-eurozone member, excluding it from the aim of “ever closer union” and curbing welfare benefits for EU workers in Britain.

After the cabinet meeting on Saturday, only six ministers said they would campaign for “Leave” on the referendum question on June 23: “Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union?”

The decision of Justice Secretary Michael Gove, a close personal

guessing over a decision that could influence millions of voters in a June referendum.

Cameron called the June 23 poll after clinching a deal from other EU leaders that he said will give Britain special status in the world’s biggest trading bloc, though six of his cabinet rebelled and are campaigning to leave the EU.

Johnson, a political showman whose buffoonish and eccentric exterior masks fierce ambition to succeed Cameron, has so far been silent, though British media has speculated that the 51-year-old will join the campaign to leave the EU.

By backing an EU exit, Johnson would transform the campaign and increase the prospects of Britain leaving the bloc because of his ability to swing public opinion. He was due to declare his position at 2200 GMT on Sunday.

Cameron cautioned Johnson, instantly recognisable by a thatch of platinum-blond hair, against joining opponents of the EU such as UK Independence Party chief Nigel Farage and maverick campaigner George Gal- friend and ally of Cameron, to support “Leave” was a blow to the premier, but the endorsement of heavyweights like Home Secretary Theresa May, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and Defence Secretary Michael Fallon was seen as crucial.

One key uncertainty, however, is which way the Mayor of London Boris Johnson, who is seen as a potential successor to Cameron, will go.

The gaffe-prone but popular eurosceptic politician could boost a “Leave” camp that so far lacks a national figurehead, aside from UK Independence Party (UKIP) leader Nigel Farage, who does not appeal to moderate voters.

Whatever the arguments of the for and against camps, experts said it was unlikely the details of the EU deal would have much weight in a campaign that will hinge on larger issues about national prosperity and sovereignty.

“The deal won’t do that much to convince anybody,” Springford said, adding that aside from the most ardent EU supporters and opponents “those in the middle will vote on the big arguments about economy and security”.

Anand Menon, a European politics professor at King’s College London,

loway.

“The prospect of linking arms with Nigel Farage and George Galloway and taking a leap into the dark is the wrong step for our country and if Boris, and if others, really care about being able to get things done in our world then the EU is one of the ways in which we get them done,” Cameron said.

“I would say to Boris what I say to everybody else, which is that we will be safer, we will be stronger, we will be better off inside the EU,” Cameron told the BBC.

Johnson has repeatedly stalled over staking out a clear position on Britain’s EU membership, at times railing against a perceived overreach into national affairs, while at others praising its positive impact on London’s role as a global trading centre.

Cast as Britain’s biggest strategic decision in at least a generation, voters will be asked on June 23. “Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union?”

A British exit from the EU would also said it was “unbelievable” that anyone would decide their vote based on the substance of the EU deal.

“Come June 23, no one is going to be talking about the specifics of the deal,” he told AFP.

As the campaign gets underway, Cameron will also be reassured by the backing of the City of London, Europe’s biggest financial hub, and the main centre-left opposition Labour Party.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has dismissed Cameron’s EU negotiations as a “sideshow” but has said he will campaign for Britain to stay in the EU to protect investments, jobs and worker and consumer protection rights.

Come June 23, The Economist weekly argued, voters’ decision will hinge largely on their views on Cameron, who does not want to go down in history as the prime minister who led Britain out of the European Union.

“Nothing will matter as much as Mr Cameron’s standing,” it said, adding that his “personal appeal and abilities” would be key.

“If it currently looks like the ‘In’ campaign will prevail, that is because he remains relatively well-liked and respected (with the emphasis on relatively),” it said.

rock the Union - already shaken by differences over migration and the future of the euro zone - by ripping away its second-largest economy, one of its top two military powers and by far its richest financial centre.

Pro-Europeans, including former prime ministers Tony Blair and John Major, have warned that an exit could also trigger the break-up of the United Kingdom by prompting another Scottish independence vote if England pulled Scotland out of the EU.

British voters - and Cameron’s ruling Conservative Party - are split on membership. Polls suggest about a fifth of voters are undecided though betting odds have moved further in favour of Britain remaining and a poll published on Sunday showed the ‘in’ campaign with a lead of 15 percentage points.

Though juggling a deeply divided party, Cameron’s backing for EU membership has the support of the City of London, major companies, much of the Labour Party, major trade unions, international allies and even Scottish nationalists.