Monday, 10 June 2013


'They're in denial': David Cameron insists UK must stay in EU and attacks Ukip

PM hinted strongly that he would campaign for Britain to remain in EU in the referendum promised by end of 2017

ANDREW GRICE Author Biography
 
 
MONDAY 10 JUNE 2013
 
 
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David Cameron today rounded on Eurosceptics who want Britain to withdraw from the EU, accusing them of being in "denial" when they claimed that the UK could go-it-alone and succeed in the global economy.
In a speech setting out his foreign policy, the Prime Minister appeared to target Conservative Europhobes as well as Nigel Farage's UK Independence Party as he attacked their "stop the world, I want to get off" approach.  He said: "There are those who say we should turn our backs on the world and on our wider obligations, that we should cut ourselves off from influential organisations in the belief that we can go it alone. I know how appealing some of these arguments are but they amount to the same thing: denial."
He went on: "Denial of a world where our young people are competing for jobs with graduates from California to Tokyo, where a revolution thousands of miles away can affect the guy filling up his van at a service station. Denial that we are a premier trading nation whose prosperity depends upon the maintenance of global peace and security - in which we play such an important role."
Mr Cameron hinted strongly that he would campaign for Britain to remain in the EU in the in/out referendum he has promised by the end of 2017. "This is about boldly pursuing our interests - not by withdrawing from the world but engaging with it," he said.
Advocating a middle way, he also rejected the arguments of pro-Europeans who "lose sight of the national interest." He insisted that his approach did not mean "supinely" agreeing to everything the EU proposed, recalling that he had vetoed an EU treaty on fiscal union.
Mr Cameron said membership of the United Nations, the Commonwealth,  Nato, the World Trade Organisation, the G8, the G20 and the EU was not a matter of "national vanity - it is in our national interest." He said: "The fact is that it is in international institutions that many of the rules of the game are set on trade, tax and regulation. In the modern world, you need to work every advantage you've got."
The Prime Minister's theme was that he would be "ambitious" both at home and abroad. He answered critics who claim the Government's domestic agenda lacks a coherent vision. He said: "I have a very clear vision of the country we are building. It's one where there is a sense of opportunity that was lacking for too long.  Where children in all our schools - in the roughest areas, the places that were once written off are encouraged to dream, inspired to learn and feel good about where they're going. Where those who want to work hard can get a good job, with prospects and a decent wage each month - enough for a home to raise their family in, enough to feel that things are getting better."
 
 

Posted by Britannia Radio at 22:52