Vote on EU next June if Cameron gets deal
DAVID Cameron is planning to hold the EU referendum in June next year if he can make progress on securing a deal to curb migration at crunch talks in Brussels, government insiders say.
In what appeared to be a blow to the Prime Minister’s chances, he was last night warned by Angela Merkel that there can be ‘no negotiation’ on the principle of free movement.
But Downing Street officials remain hopeful that member states will offer concessions on curbing the influx of EU workers over a key dinner at the European Council summit tonight.
Ministers privately say this could pave the way for the PM to have the talks wrapped up at the next Council meeting in February – and hold a controversial snap poll in June, before the warmer weather triggers another summer of migrant chaos.
The German Chancellor told the Bundestag in Berlin that the core EU principles of free movement and non- discrimination between citizens could not be questioned.
Her comments appeared to categorically rule out agreement for Mr Cameron’s contentious plan to ban migrants from receiving in-work benefits for the first four years they are in the UK. But a senior British official said there had been ‘murmurings’ that other member states might offer Britain an alternative deal on immigration. This could include a so-called emergency brake, whereby the UK would be allowed to impose temporary restrictions on EU migrants if public services became overwhelmed. Yesterday, Sir John Major waded into the negotiation row.
In a BBC interview, the former PM declared: ‘Flirting with leaving the EU, at a moment when the whole world is coming together, seems to me to be very dangerous and against our long-term interests.’
Sir John – whose premiership was derailed by bitter rows with eurosceptic Tory MPs – said the UK would face a ‘very acrimonious departure’, warning: ‘We may get a very sub-standard deal to enter the single market.’
He also claimed a vote to leave would make it more likely the Scots would quit the UK and that the French would allow more illegal immigrants to sneak into the UK.
But campaign group Vote Leave said his remarks were ‘ scaremongering’ and untrue. Spokesman Robert Oxley said: ‘It is disappointing that a former prime minister is now resorting to talking Britain down by suggesting that we could not stand on our own two feet in the world.’
Officials in London were upbeat ahead of the summit, saying the EU’s political leaders had been more positive about the chances of success in private.
On three of the four demands made by Mr Cameron – measures to improve competitiveness, exempt the UK from a commitment to ‘ever closer union’ and prevent eurozone countries from ganging up on the UK – Brussels has already signalled its willingness to do a deal.
If Mr Cameron is able to claim success in these areas tomorrow morning, plus progress on curbing migration, it would put him on course to secure a deal at the next EU Council meeting in February.
If the deal were secured, he would then be in a position to hold the referendum in June – before the EU migration crisis is expected to worsen again.
Comment – Page 14