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| Brexit would lead to more expensive flights and holidays, Cameron says | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| David Cameron has ramped up his warnings about the cost of leaving the EU, telling workers their jobs could be at risk and the prices of holidays and basic goods could rise. | David Cameron has ramped up his warnings about the cost of leaving the EU, telling workers their jobs could be at risk and the prices of holidays and basic goods could rise. |
| The prime minister made the prediction on his third campaign visit since striking a deal to give the UK a new relationship with Brussels and naming the date of the EU referendum last Saturday. | |
| Related: EU referendum: Tories in open warfare over legal status of Cameron deal | Related: EU referendum: Tories in open warfare over legal status of Cameron deal |
| For the first time, he used the claim of the Britain Stronger in Europe camp that prices in shops could go up and echoed the warning of easyJet’s chief executive, Carolyn McCall, that the EU has benefited holidaymakers by driving down the cost of flying. | |
| Cameron said: “I think there are some quite retail points we should focus on. Since we joined the EU, the cost of flights, the cost of holidays, has come right down. That’s something we benefit from. | Cameron said: “I think there are some quite retail points we should focus on. Since we joined the EU, the cost of flights, the cost of holidays, has come right down. That’s something we benefit from. |
| “We’ve also got to think about the issue of the prices in our shops. Being part of a single market keeps our prices down. I think there’s a real risk that, if we leave, we would see fewer jobs, less investment and higher prices,” he said, | “We’ve also got to think about the issue of the prices in our shops. Being part of a single market keeps our prices down. I think there’s a real risk that, if we leave, we would see fewer jobs, less investment and higher prices,” he said, |
| Speaking to workers at BAE Systems in Preston, Lancashire, on Thursday, he urged them to consider the risk of companies losing trade and cutting jobs if the UK exits the EU. | Speaking to workers at BAE Systems in Preston, Lancashire, on Thursday, he urged them to consider the risk of companies losing trade and cutting jobs if the UK exits the EU. |
| Asked directly if leaving the EU would threaten jobs at the defence company, which employs thousands of people in the UK, he said: “I am saying that we are better off in a reformed European Union. I think jobs would be at risk – there are three million jobs that in some way depend on our trade with the European Union.” | Asked directly if leaving the EU would threaten jobs at the defence company, which employs thousands of people in the UK, he said: “I am saying that we are better off in a reformed European Union. I think jobs would be at risk – there are three million jobs that in some way depend on our trade with the European Union.” |
| Leaving the EU would put defence cooperation with countries like Italy, France and Gemany at risk, Cameron said. | |
| “The more partnerships we have, the more we are likely to maintain and enhance our skills base here in the UK and so if we were to leave the EU, of course that does not technically take you out of the Typhoon programme or take you out of other collaborations you can do with other European countries. But I think it would make it more difficult because the fact is, sitting around that European Union table with the French, the Germans and the Italians, that is where we have many of these conversations. And so it could put a risk some of the defence collaboration we have today.” | “The more partnerships we have, the more we are likely to maintain and enhance our skills base here in the UK and so if we were to leave the EU, of course that does not technically take you out of the Typhoon programme or take you out of other collaborations you can do with other European countries. But I think it would make it more difficult because the fact is, sitting around that European Union table with the French, the Germans and the Italians, that is where we have many of these conversations. And so it could put a risk some of the defence collaboration we have today.” |
| Cameron said it would be possible to cooperate with the French outside of the EU, “but would the French be as enthusiastic about it if we were not sitting around that table with them, working out how to bring our muscle to bear on the problems of the world? I think they would be less interested and less willing.” | Cameron said it would be possible to cooperate with the French outside of the EU, “but would the French be as enthusiastic about it if we were not sitting around that table with them, working out how to bring our muscle to bear on the problems of the world? I think they would be less interested and less willing.” |
| The prime minister also repeated his previous claims that the UK is better able to stand up to Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, and Islamic State from inside the EU, while adding that cooperation to stop British ships being captured by pirates is also vital. | |
| Cameron has repeatedly described the prospect of leaving the EU as a “great leap in the dark”. | Cameron has repeatedly described the prospect of leaving the EU as a “great leap in the dark”. |
| Brexit campaigners have accused Cameron and others fighting to keep the UK in the EU of engaging in “project fear” – a strategy of frightening people into voting to stay in the EU. | Brexit campaigners have accused Cameron and others fighting to keep the UK in the EU of engaging in “project fear” – a strategy of frightening people into voting to stay in the EU. |
| Related: Britain's 1975 Europe referendum: what was it like last time? | Related: Britain's 1975 Europe referendum: what was it like last time? |
| Cameron has clashed several times with cabinet colleagues in the leave campaign over his arguments for staying in the EU. On Thursday, he slapped down Iain Duncan Smith, the work and pensions secretary, for claiming that the emergency brake on migrant benefits will not work, insisting it will be a key part of the government bringing down net migration to its target of tens of thousands, not hundreds of thousands, a year. | |
| The day before, he rejected the argument of Michael Gove, the justice secretary, that his EU deal is not legally binding and dismissed the suggestion of Boris Johnson, the London mayor, that a vote to leave could lead to better renegotiations with the EU. | The day before, he rejected the argument of Michael Gove, the justice secretary, that his EU deal is not legally binding and dismissed the suggestion of Boris Johnson, the London mayor, that a vote to leave could lead to better renegotiations with the EU. |
| But the prime minister appeared to concede he would be keen for further renegotiations when treaties are reopened in future. “Is it the end of the need for reform in Europe? No. And the next time there’s a full-on discussion of treaties and treaty changes, I think we could go even further and say, ‘Right, we’ve sorted out getting out of the single currency, we’ve sorted out staying out of the Schengen no-borders agreement, we’re now out of the ever closer political union’ and at the next set of discussions, there may be more arrangements that Britain wants to confirm or strengthen.” |