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.
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Referring to two other prominent supporters of the leave campaign, Mr Cameron also warned against “linking arms with Nigel Farage and George Galloway”.
London Mayor Boris Johnson has yet to make his position clear and Cameron acknowledged that Gove would campaign to leave, saying he was disappointed but not surprised.
“You have an illusion of sovereignty but you don’t have power, you don’t have control, you can’t get things done”.
But in a move which highlighted the provisional nature of elements of the Brussels deal, Mr Cameron admitted that details of one of its key parts – limiting how much in benefits European Union migrants can claim in Britain for their first four years in the country – had yet to be worked out. So it could cost jobs, it could mean overseas businesses not investing in Britain.
“This is an enormously complicated decision for everybody, not just Boris… and his participation in either camp is going to be very significant, and this is why he’s taking so long to decide”, she told Sky News.
A Downing Street spokesman said the discussion had been conducted in “a good spirit and a dignified manner” with “measured, thought through interventions” from ministers reflecting the way they had each carefully weighed up the choice they were facing.
“In a world where you have got Putin to the east and Isil-Daesh to the south, how do you stay strong?” “By sticking with your neighboring countries, your partners and your friends”.
Boris Johnson will announce tonight which side of the “Brexit” debate he supports. “Boris, from an out campaign point of view, would be a gain because he would slightly rebalance things”, said Andrew Rawnsley, chief political commentator for the Observer.
This was a risky appeal, as now if the Mayor backs Out then it will be in spite of the Prime Minister’s last-minute pleading.
The BBC’s Norman Smith said Mr Johnson, previously thought to have been “conflicted”, had now made up his mind.
“What again I think a lot of the commentariat in Westminster don’t understand is there are literally only five or six people in this referendum whose campaigning, whose presence, can sway the undecideds, and he is one of those half a dozen”.
By backing an European Union exit, Johnson would transform the campaign and increase the prospects of Britain leaving the bloc because of his ability to swing public opinion.
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David Cameron is making final efforts to bolster support for his proposed European Union reforms before a crunch summit.
