British PM promises referendum on EU membership by 2017

British Prime Minister David Cameron has pledged to hold a referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union if his party is re-elected in the next general election by 2017.

In a much-anticipated speech on Wednesday morning Cameron sought to placate the increasingly Eurosceptic voices both within his own Conservative Party and outside, with a pledge to offer the British public a simple choice between staying in or leaving the European Union.

“It is time for the British people to have their say. It is time to settle this European question in British politics,” he said.

‘Wafer thin’ support

Failing to give Britain a choice in the near future would only risk stoking Euroscepticism, in a country where support for the EU was already “wafer thin.”

“People feel that the EU is heading in a direction that they never signed up to,” he said.

Cameron ruled out an immediate referendum, arguing that it would not be appropriate as the EU was in a state of flux, and that holding it in 2017 would give Britain the chance to shape the future of the EU.

Britain would be offered a “real choice between leaving or being part of a new settlement in which Britain shapes and respects the rules of the single market but is protected by fair safeguards, and free of the spurious regulation which damages Europe’s competitiveness.”

The increasingly Eurosceptic rhetoric emerging from Britain over the past few weeks has triggered alarm bells across the world, with US President Barack Obama calling for a “strong” UK in Europe last week.

Strong reactions

Among the first to respond to the news on Wednesday, was French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who told French radio France Info that the referendum posed risks for Britain, likening membership of the EU to a football club, where once inside you couldn’t suddenly decide that you wanted to “play rugby.”

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle told Bloomberg that while not everything should be decided in Brussels, but that “cherry picking” wasn’t an option.

Mixed picture

Opinion polls in Britain have presented a mixed picture of public opinion on Europe.

While the anti European UK Independence Party has seen a surge in support in recent months, a poll conducted earlier this week by YouGov found a slim majority in favour of remaining in the EU (40 per cent against 34 per cent).

COMMENT NOW