I amthe man with Europe plan, says PM

But Labour leader warns Cameron over ‘playing games’

Britain cannot secure reform of the European Union by just saying it will “stick with whatever we have, come what may”, David Cameron said.

In what will be seen as his strongest signal yet that he could back exit, in the absence of significant changes to Britain’s relationship with Brussels, Mr Cameron defended his strategy of renegotiating the UK’s EU membership before an in/out referendum in 2017.

He told the CBI conference in London that, by contrast, Labour had no plans to reform Europe.

Opposition leader Ed Miliband hit back by warning the same conference that “flirting” with withdrawal was a “betrayal of our national interest”.

Mr Miliband pledged that, as prime minister, he would “never risk British businesses, British jobs, British prosperity by playing political games with our membership of the European Union”.

Mr Cameron said: “I agree with what the CBI has said: we should be looking for a reformed European Union. I am the politician who has the plan for that reform, who wants to see the single market safeguarded and not have us ordered around by the single-currency countries, whowants tomake surewe belong to a Europe that is about a common market and co-operation and not about ‘ever-closer union’.”

In a dig at Mr Miliband, he said: “That is a plan. Simply standing here and saying ‘I will stay in Europe, I will stick with whatever we have, come what may’, that is not a strategy.”

Mr Miliband warned: “There are some people who advocate exit from the EU. There are others who flirt with it, thinking they can do so without consequence and perhaps with advantage to Britain.”

Referring to Mr Cameron, he added: “Every nod and wink to those who want to leave sends a message to potential investors in our country that we are not open for business.”

CBI president Sir Michael Rake said four out of every five CBI members would vote to stay in the European Union in a referendum because it was “overwhelmingly” in the UK’s national interest.

Ed Miliband: would “never risk British jobs”