Obama’s EU plea infuriates Tories

TORIES hit out at Barack Obama yesterday after he urged Britain to stay in the European Union.

The US president said that the UK must stay aligned with Brussels if it is to continue to have influence on the world stage.

But Eurosceptics said the comments were an unwarranted interference in a decision to be made by the UK electorate in a referendum before the end of 2017.

Tom Pursglove, Tory MP for Corby, said the issue of EU membership was ‘a matter for the British people’ alone.

Referring to the American War of Independence, former environment secretary Owen Paterson told the BBC the US ‘fought not to have laws imposed on them so I don’t think he’s in a strong position when we want to make our own laws in our own Parliament’.

And Conservative MEP Daniel Hannan tweeted: ‘I accept that there may be some arguments for staying in the EU. Humouring Barack Obama is not one of them.’

In an interview with the BBC, Mr Obama said: ‘Having the United Kingdom in the European Union gives us much greater confidence about the state of the transat- lantic union and is part of the cornerstone of the institutions built after World War Two that has made the world safer and more prosperous.

‘We want to make sure that the United Kingdom c ontinues t o have t hat influence.’

A Number 10 source said: ‘As the Prime Minister said in June, it’s right for Britain to have this renegotiation and this referendum to address the concerns that the British people have about Europe and to make sure the British people have the final say about whether we stay in a reformed European Union or leave.’