David Cameron will announce the date of the in/out referendum on European Union membership after gathering his Cabinet to discuss the newly-secured reform deal.
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Cameron was hoping to fly home and chair a cabinet meeting later on Friday to endorse what he calls a “new settlement” with the EU, setting in motion plans to call a referendum on Britain’s future in the union, probably for June 23.
In a statement in Downing Street today (Saturday February 20) David Cameron warned that leaving Europe would be a “leap in the dark” and urged voters to back his reform deal.
He continued: “I do not love Brussels, I love Britain”.
“We are stronger, safer and better off inside this reformed European Union”. “All they are offering is risk at a time of uncertainty – a leap in the dark”.
Cameron may announce a referendum date after the meeting, the first Cabinet session held on a Saturday since the Falklands War in 1982.
“By leaving the European Union we can take control”.
The best-selling “The Sun” opted for a tabloid version of the summit, while the “The Daily Telegraph” pictured the prime minister looking perplexed next to a headline about one of his closest political allies, Justice Secretary Michael Gove, campaigning to leave the EU.
Marley Morris, IPPR Research Fellow, said: “Our research suggests that the public care about the issue of benefits in principle, because they see the current rules as unfair on Britain, and so the changes are an important part of the final deal”.
“I deeply believe the United Kingdom needs Europe and Europe needs the United Kingdom”. “This is about how we trade with neighbouring countries to create jobs, prosperity and financial security for our families”.
Despite that support, some cabinet figures are expected to back the “leave” campaign that wants Britain to carve its own path outside of the bureaucracy in Brussels. “Britain will never join the euro and we’ve secured vital protections for our economy and a full say over the rules of the free trade single-market while remaining outside the euro”. “We will never be part of Eurozone bailouts, never part of the passport free area, a European army or a European superstate”.
“Let me be clear”, he said.
Opponents of the European Union say the deal fails to protect Britain’s borders from a continuing massive inflow of European Union migrant workers and robs the British Parliament of its powers.
He spoke to the British people: “The choice is in your hands”.
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The Prime Minister made the announcement as he said he believes Britain would be “safer, stronger and better off” in a reformed EU.
