David Cameron has struck a deal with other EU leaders over Britain’s future
in Europe after marathon talks in Brussels.
Donald Tusk, President of the European Council announced the agreement
after more than 24 hours of agonising discussions over British demands to curb
benefits for migrant workers.
“Unanimous support for new settlement for the UK in Europe,” he said after
a final agreement was signed off at dinner of 28 EU members in Brussels.
The agreement, which has yet to be published, is expected to see Britain
compromise on key elements of Mr Cameron’s demands to restrict welfare payments
to Eastern European workers.
Mr Cameron will return to the UK overnight in time to chair a cabinet
meeting tomorrow morning which rubber stamp the agreement.
But after the meeting the Justice Secretary Michael Gove and at least five
other cabinet ministers are expected to break ranks and defy Mr Cameron by
¬arguing for Brexit in the European Union membership referendum.
One or more had hoped to address a major anti-EU rally in London on Friday
night but they were forced to hold their peace when Mr Cameron’s EU
renegotiation summit dragged on into a second day.
Mr Gove’s expected decision to support the Out campaign will be a bitter
blow to Downing Street as he is among the Prime Minister’s closest confidants
and a family friend. Mr Cameron has made huge efforts to persuade the Justice
Secretary to campaign for Britain to remain in the EU based on a reformed
relationship between London and Brussels.
But sources close to Mr Cameron said that Mr Gove had decided with a “heavy
heart” he could not back the Prime Minister on the issue.The Spectator reported
that Mr Cameron’s allies seem “pretty much resigned to losing Michael Gove to
the Out campaign once the deal is done”.
Mr Gove has been torn between his loyalty to the Prime Minister and his
long-standing support for Britain pulling out of the bloc.
The Justice Secretary’s defection to the Brexit campaign would boost its
credibility – although it is understood he would take a relatively low profile
– and could encourage other wavering ministers to follow suit.
A spokesman for him said: “Michael’s position has not changed – he supports
the Prime Minister’s strategy to renegotiate our relationship with the European
Union. As he has said before, it would be premature for anyone to make a
judgement before the deal is concluded. Like the Prime Minister, he has not
ruled anything out.”
Mr Cameron cancelled a cabinet meeting provisionally scheduled for Friday
afternoon at which he had hoped to report back on a deal secured in the
Brussels talks. That would have marked the point at which collective responsibility
would have been suspended and ministers could have gone public over their
support for Brexit.
A prominent role will be played in the Out campaign by Iain Duncan Smith,
the Work and Pensions Secretary, who is a long-term advocate of withdrawal from
the EU.
He is among the several ¬cabinet members who have complained to Mr Cameron
over the collective gag placed on Eurosceptic ministers ahead of the referendum
-campaign.
The Commons Leader, Chris Grayling, and the employment minister, Priti
Patel, look certain to join the campaign, as well as John Whittingdale, the
Culture Secretary, and Theresa ¬Villiers, the Northern Ireland Secretary.
Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, is still keeping the Prime Minister
guessing over his intentions, although he has promised to set out his position
“with deafening éclat” if Mr Cameron clinches a deal in Brussels.
Speakers at the Grassroots Out rally included the Ukip leader Nigel
Farage, the senior Conservative MPs Sir Bill Cash and David Davis, Labour’s
Kate Hoey and the economist Ruth Lea.
Ahead of the rally Mr Davis said: “This whole long drawn-out renegotiation
process has highlighted the EU’s undemocratic institutional arrogance. It shows
the utter disregard Brussels has for member states. It is the perfect example
of how Britain is ruled by the EU.”
After 24 hours of talks in Brussels, Mr Cameron made little progress in
thrashing out a compromise on his reform demands.
Eastern European countries stood firm in their position that any deal
should not allow Britain to restrict child benefits to migrant workers
immediately, calling for the plan to be phased in over 16 years.
At the same time they pressed for the emergency brake for in-work benefits
to be limited to an initial period of two years, with tough tests for any
extensions. Mr Cameron is understood to have made clear that this would be
unacceptable during a series of tense and sleep-deprived bilateral meetings
throughout the day.
A full European Council meeting had been scheduled to rubber-stamp the plan
at 11am, but what had been billed as an “English breakfast” soon turned into an
“English lunch” and finally an “English dinner” as a deal proved elusive.
Mr Cameron, who only left the Council building for three hours’ sleep at
5am, returned for another session including talks with the French, Italians,
Poles, Czechs and Germans in an attempt to find a compromise. By early evening
the Council President Donald Tusk decided to reconvene the whole Council
despite no agreed deal being on the table in an attempt to use “peer pressure”
to force a compromise.
British diplomats said they were ready to fight their corner to resist the
deal being watered down.
While no threat was made to walk away, a Downing Street source made clear
Mr Cameron was prepared to leave if he came under too much pressure to
compromise. “You have to remember that we don’t have to hold the referendum
until 2017,” they said.
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