British prime minister ready for referendum on EU

LONDON British PM David Cameron is ready to give voters the chance of rejecting Britain’s membership of the European Union in a landmark referendum, writes The Times. According to The Times, there is still a vigorous debate in Downing Street how the prime minister should frame the issue in his long-promised speech on Britain's future in Europe. British prime minister ready for referendum on EU Cameron will urge the public to support a looser relationship with Brussels that he hopes to negotiate over the coming years. But he is ready to give his voters the chance to say no to such a deal, a result that would effectively be seen as a vote to quit the EU, at least on the proposed terms, writes The Times. One option being considered would involve two referendums, one quickly after polling day in 2015 empowering Cameron to negotiate a new deal, followed by a second to approve such a deal. London Mayor Boris Johnson called on Cameron yesterday to all but pull out of the EU, saying Britain's involvement in Europe should be akin to Norway's and Switzerland's and confined to the "single market". The debate whether Britain should leave the EU or not has been underway for quite some time and former PM Tony Blair recently warned that Britain would face a disaster if it did not stay in the center of the EU. However, support to the idea that Britain should stay in the EU has declined among citizens, showed November opinion polls. According to the polls, 56 percent of Brits would vote against the country’s EU membership and only 30 percent would like the country to remain in the Union. An EU summit was held in Brussels in November where the EU leaders failed to reach an agreement on the Union’s budget for the period from 2014 until 2020 due to opposition of several countries led by Great Britain. British media have been speculating that Cameron wants to postpone the referendum at least until the 2015 election because his government would fall if it was held earlier, bearing in mind that his coalition partners, the Liberals, reject the referendum. David Cameron (Beta, file) Tanjug

British prime minister ready for referendum on EU

Cameron will urge the public to support a looser relationship with Brussels that he hopes to negotiate over the coming years. But he is ready to give his voters the chance to say no to such a deal, a result that would effectively be seen as a vote to quit the EU, at least on the proposed terms, writes The Times.

One option being considered would involve two referendums, one quickly after polling day in 2015 empowering Cameron to negotiate a new deal, followed by a second to approve such a deal.

London Mayor Boris Johnson called on Cameron yesterday to all but pull out of the EU, saying Britain's involvement in Europe should be akin to Norway's and Switzerland's and confined to the "single market".

The debate whether Britain should leave the EU or not has been underway for quite some time and former PM Tony Blair recently warned that Britain would face a disaster if it did not stay in the center of the EU.

However, support to the idea that Britain should stay in the EU has declined among citizens, showed November opinion polls. According to the polls, 56 percent of Brits would vote against the country’s EU membership and only 30 percent would like the country to remain in the Union.

An EU summit was held in Brussels in November where the EU leaders failed to reach an agreement on the Union’s budget for the period from 2014 until 2020 due to opposition of several countries led by Great Britain.

British media have been speculating that Cameron wants to postpone the referendum at least until the 2015 election because his government would fall if it was held earlier, bearing in mind that his coalition partners, the Liberals, reject the referendum.