UK’s Cameron says he will not rule out European Union exit

Sometime this week, Britain’s prime minister will send a wish list to European Union partners, launching a formal negotiation that could lead to the UK’s exit from the 28-nation bloc or subtly change the nature of the union if it stays.

Top of the list of seven demands will be that European Union citzens will have to wait four years to claim benefits. “And there are also significant risks if we allow our sovereignty to be eroded by ever closer union, or sit by and do nothing about the unsustainable rate of migration into our country”, Cameron is expected to say.

It comes amid growing concerns over the lack of clarity about the renegotiation ahead of the referendum.

Cameron, who has long wanted to renegotiate Britain’s European Union membership, will formally set out his demands in a closely-watched speech and letter on Tuesday. ‘I think a few of them may feel emboldened if the Lords votes heavily for it. You have to remember that people who are 16 and 17 now will be able to vote at the next election.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker are among the leaders to have said they want to help Britain stay in the EU, and that will require acceding to as many of Cameron’s demands as they can stomach.

“Whether being in the European Union adds to our economic security or detracts from it?”

Senior sources say that, although the Commons recently voted against the move, Cameron and senior ministers are not ruling out softening their opposition if the vote in the Lords results in a large majority in favour.

“But just as those who are advocating staying in the European Union at all costs have to answer serious questions, those who think Britain should just leave now also need to think hard about the implications of their arguments”, he will say.

He told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: ‘What it doesn’t do and what it won’t do at this stage is set out detailed specific legislative changes.

As well as Meyer and Neville-Jones, other authors of the damning report on Britain’s foreign policy prepared by a commission convened by the LSE include the former head of British intelligence Sir Richard Dearlove, the prime minister’s former adviser on global affairs Jonathan Luff and HSBC’s chief economist Stephen King.

“This letter is not the end of the process, it is the beginning of the process”, he explained.

Mr Hammond insisted the Prime Minister was seeking reforms that would bring “substantive, irreversible, legally binding change”.

The Labour Party leader will admit to having doubts of her own following the EU’s initial response to the crisis but will conclude that “we’re stronger working together than going our separate ways”.

Vote Leave Campaign Director Dominic Cummings said the public should not be fooled by the PM’s renegotiation demands: “We expect Cameron to get what he’s asking for but what he’s asking for is trivial. It is not impossible but it would be challenging”, he said.