Former M&S boss Lord Rose claims Britain’s membership of the European Union saves all Britons £480m a year and the risk of leaving is a “leap in the dark”.
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He said: “Those who want us to leave Europe would risk our prosperity, they would, I believe, threaten our safety and they would, I believe, diminish our influence in the world”.
Rose, who is now chairman of online supermarket Ocado, is a member of the House of Lords, Britain’s unelected upper chamber, representing Cameron’s Conservative party.
In an effort to distance it from the list of usual pro-European politicians and to emphasise the business case for staying in, the chairman of the campaign is to be Lord Rose, a former chief executive of Marks and Spencer, itself a quintessentially British retailer.
First we have the “Vote Leave” group, the newer of the two but still a dedicated group, with people with bags of experience from winning the anti-proportional representation AV campaign in the last parliament.
Cameron has pledged to renegotiate Britain’s relationship with the EU to get “the best of both worlds” by asking for guarantees the country will be kept out of ever-closer union and that the euro is not the EU’s official currency, protecting the pound in a multi-currency union. Stressing reform was in the interests of all of Europe not just the United Kingdom, Mr Johnson said he had “great faith” in Mr Cameron’s ability to secure change.
Further details of the Prime Minister’s negotiation plan remain secret. His final demand – a four-year ban on European Union migrants claiming in-work benefits – is proving particularly troublesome, as Britain’s natural allies in eastern Europe indicate they are strongly opposed to the proposal which would, they believe, be targeted at their citizens.
Senior In campaign figures warned of what would happen if Britain voted to leave the European Union in the referendum, due before the end of 2017.
Vote Leave has been launched with the backing of a few of the biggest party donors in the country as well as prominent figures from the world of business and MPs from across the political spectrum.
UKIP leader Nigel Farage has played down reports of rifts within the camp advocating a so-called “Brexit”, saying the two campaigns are “complementary”.
The announcement about Lord Rose comes as David Cameron met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to discuss his renegotiation strategy. This is the kind of expertise and knowledge we need to help persuade the British public that it will be good for business, good for jobs and good for the taxpayer or us to take back control of our government form the EU.
Britain Stronger In Europe executive director Will Straw said: “Stuart Rose edited the speech this morning and read it in his own words”.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said that negotiations with member states were continuing and there would be a “more substantive discussion at the December European Council on those reforms”.
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Mr Johnson spoke yesterday during a visit to Osaka in Japan as the Britain Stronger in Europe campaign issued a series of dire warnings about the consequences of leaving the EU.
