Cameron's EU reforms too weak for rebel tory MPs
REBEL Tory MPs renewed their attack on the Government’s “too weak” European Union stance yesterday.
The eurosceptic Conservatives For Britain (CFB) group met following last week’s publication of Mr Cameron’s negotiating demands, set out in the form of a letter to European Council president Donald Tusk.
The letter laid out the framework of what the Prime Minister hopes to achieve in talks with fellow leaders ahead of the UK’s “in-out” referendum he has promised by the end of 2017.
Last night, CFB co-chairmen Steve Baker, an MP, and David Campbell Bannerman, an MEP, said: “We had a positive meeting with Parliamentary colleagues who agreed that, in light of the letter to Donald Tusk, the Government’s EU negotiating position is too weak and will not deliver the fundamental change we all want to see.
"The vast majority of Conservatives for Britain colleagues in attendance believe the time has come to start campaigning alongside Vote Leave.
Some want to reserve their position until the final agreement has been reached
“Some want to reserve their position until the final agreement has been reached, but even they expect that they will end up campaigning to leave.”
The group has previously said that if Mr Cameron’s renegotiation results in British people facing “a choice between the damaging status quo or exit, we will fully back the Vote Leave campaign”.
Cameron will use 'heart and soul' to keep Britain in EU
The group claims the support of more than 100 Tory MPs, 40 peers and many MEPs, councillors and party members. Its formal position is that the current terms of Britain’s relationship with the EU require fundamental change.
In another blow to Mr Cameron’s renegotiation, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond admitted yesterday that voters in other European countries may block EU reforms negotiated by the UK.
He also appeared to concede that changes secured by David Cameron ahead of the UK’s referendum on whether to leave the EU could potentially be overturned by the European Court of Justice.
He said getting the tighter limits Britain wants on new EU migrants’ access to benefits and public services was the hardest part of the negotiation.
After MPs voiced concern about how legally watertight Britain would find its reforms in practice, Robert Oxley, of the Vote Leave campaign, said: “The Government’s deal will have the legal status of an unsigned contract that can be torn up without a second thought.”
The Daily Express is running a crusade for Britain to leave the EU.