Cameron vows to renegotiate EU ties
Print Edition
Prime Minister David Cameron touted his election victory as a strong mandate to renegotiate Britain’s relationship with the European Union, as his party proclaimed yesterday a new-found unity over the traditionally divisive issue.
Following his unexpected securing of an outright parliamentary majority, Cameron told lawmakers from his Conservative Party that they had won a famous victory last Thursday but there was no room for complacency.
“We have got a mandate; it will be tough obviously but we have got a mandate,” Cameron said of his planned EU renegotiation, before entering the meeting of lawmakers to cheers, applause and the appreciative banging of fists on tables.
Cameron has made clear one of his priorities for his second term will be to reshape Britain’s EU ties before holding a referendum by the end of 2017 on whether the country should stay in the bloc or leave.
Had Cameron failed to win so emphatically, the meeting room would probably have been the venue for a move against his leadership. However, his center-right party can now govern alone following five years when it was in coalition with the Liberal Democrats.
Cameron was completing his cabinet line-up yesterday, promoting several women, two Britons of Asian origin, and a lawmaker with strong links to working class voters to demonstrate he is what he called a “one nation” prime minister.
Since his re-election, Cameron has phoned several European leaders to discuss his planned EU renegotiation, which he has said will get under way soon.
Lawmakers said Cameron, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, and finance minister George Osborne, would lead the talks.
The issue of Europe has split the Tories before and contributed to the downfall of two of Cameron’s predecessors, Margaret Thatcher and John Major.
Cameron, who has said his preference is for Britain to remain in a reformed EU, is keen to avoid another split. But he has not ruled out an exit if he fails to get the changes he wants.
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