PM ‘to scare us into voting to stay in Europe’
Leak lays out ‘Project Fear’ tactics
DAVID Cameron will use the politics of fear to persuade people to vote to stay in the EU, diplomatic sources claimed last night.
A leaked diplomatic cable said the Prime Minister was seeking relatively modest, ‘achievable’ reforms in his negotiations about Britain’s relations with Europe.
The note, based on private discussions between Mr Cameron and an unnamed EU leader, said he had set the ‘firm aim’ of keeping Britain in the EU.
It suggested he would repeat the ‘Project Fear’ tactics used in last year’s Scottish independence referendum, when voters were repeatedly warned of the risks of leaving the Union.
The note said: ‘He believes that people will ultimately vote for the status quo if the alternatives can be made to appear risky.’
Mr Cameron dismissed the claims yesterday, saying he was pushing for substantial reforms and planning to fight a ‘wholly positive’ campaign for the referendum on EU membership.
He suggested he wanted to get back to a version of the EU that was more like the ‘common market’ Britain originally joined.
He said: ‘Our membership of the EU will once again have a common market at its heart. We will have got off the treadmill of ever-closer union.
‘We will have addressed the issue of migration from the rest of the EU. And we will have protected Britain’s place in the sin- gle market. It will not be the status quo.’
He gave his strongest indication yet that he intends to campaign for Britain to stay in the EU, saying membership was beneficial to the national interest.
Speaking at a press conference in Brussels, he said: ‘Particularly during the eurozone crisis, people in Britain were looking at Europe and seeing economic stagnation and problems, and asking, “Is our membership of this organisation beneficial for Britain?” I believe it is beneficial, but I want to make it more so.’
Mr Cameron also appeared to confirm he is taking a softly-softly approach to negotiations, saying he was ‘not kicking over tables’ during discussions. The approach will alarm some Tory MPs, who believe Britain should be tough to secure the best deal.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, the MP for North East Somerset, said Mr Cameron should model his tactics on those of Greece in negotiations about its debt crisis.
He added: ‘ He should be extraordinarily ambitious. It seems that the more difficult Greece is, the more it gets. We should model our negotiating strategy on the Greeks.’
Ukip leader Nigel Farage said the document leaked to The Guardian showed the Prime Minister’s renegotiation was ‘ a complete con’.
The note said: ‘ The PM said that he had deliberately not produced a lengthy shopping list and had been careful in formulating his wish list, but he needed to get satisfaction on these reform demands.
‘He said that he needed to win the middle ground and, if he is to achieve this, then moderate people needed to feel that the things that bother them about the EU have been dealt with.’
Downing Street had hoped yesterday’s summit would be a ‘milestone’ moment when EU leaders discussed his reform plans for the first time.
But Mr Cameron ended up having to make a brief presentation to fellow leaders during a seven-hour row over what to do about migrants flocking to Europe across the Mediterranean. EU leaders agreed to hand over discussions to officials, and will not return to the matter until December.
Mr Cameron insisted he was ‘delighted’ that the summit had given the green light to months of ‘technical talks’ by officials.
‘It will not be the status quo’