EU has one last chance to reform, says David Cameron

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/oct/16/eu-last-chance-reform-uk-referendum-david-cameron

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David Cameron says he will give the European Union one last chance to reform in yet another hint he could be prepared to lead Britain to the exit door in the next parliament.

The prime minister said he and others in Britain did not want an EU army, flag or single unified country, but instead for the UK to be a strong, self-governing nation.

Cameron’s stance on the possibility of leaving the EU appears to have hardened since the defection of two Tory MPs, Mark Reckless and Douglas Carswell, to Ukip.

On the eve of the Conservative conference, Cameron told BBC1’s Andrew Marr Show: “I have said this all my political life – I’ve said if I thought that it wasn’t in Britain’s interests to be in the EU I wouldn’t argue for us to be in it.

“I am just a deeply patriotic politician and person. I do this job because I love my country, I care passionately about its future and I want it to be a strong, proud, self-governing independent nation.”

Speaking on the campaign trail near Rochester, where Reckless’s move triggered a byelection, he expanded on this position, suggesting the EU was on probation as far as Britain’s membership was concerned.

He said: “I think we can get what we’re looking for because the fact is that I think it’s worth one last go trying to get a better relationship with Europe … I’m not happy with how things are at the moment, but I also think the rest of Europe actually wants us to stay.

“Britain in Europe is a voice for free trade, deregulation, one of the major military powers in Europe; we’re a country that matters in the world and can get things done.”

Under pressure from Ukip in Rochester and elsewhere, the prime minister also signalled “further action” to bring EU immigration under control, beyond previously announced demands about curbing access to benefits and limiting numbers of migrants from new member states.

He is coming under pressure from some in his party, including Anna Firth – one of two potential candidates in Rochester – to consider the Australian system of immigration proposed by Ukip, which would allow people into Britain on the basis of their skills. However, he probably has a better chance of negotiating a middle way, such as an emergency brake on immigration from certain countries if the number of arrivals caused too much pressure on infrastructure.

Cameron said: “We need to get back, frankly, to what we were told we were going to join in the first place and that’s why I’m very passionate about getting Britain out of what’s called ‘ever-closer union’. We didn’t sign up to ever-closer union. We want access to Europe’s markets, we want a say over how those markets work but we do not want a European army or a European flag or a European country.

“We live in a country called Britain and that’s the way it should stay: the United Kingdom, as members of an association of member states.”

Pressed by one Rochester resident on whether he would achieve the changes he wants, the prime minister said the negotiations were “not going to be easy”, but that they were achievable.

“Frankly, I think that Britain can say, as a country that has contributed massively to European prosperity and progress, over not just in the last few years but over centuries, that we should have one last go at negotiating a better deal,” he said.