Migrant crisis risks Britain leaving EU: Cameron

The migrant crisis sweeping Europe could lead to
Britain voting to leave the European Union in an
upcoming referendum, Prime Minister David
Cameron warned in an interview published
Thursday.
Cameron is currently touring Europe in
an attempt to secure reforms to the 28-
member bloc, before campaigning to
stay in the EU ahead of the referendum
promised before the end of 2017.
However, he said voters could be
influenced by the influx of migrants on
the continent, fleeing war in the Middle
East and north Africa.
“With… the migration crisis, the short-
term impact is for people to think, ‘Oh
Christ, push Europe away from me, it’s
bringing me problems’,” he told Britain’s
Spectator magazine.
“I get the temptation for people to say:
look, it’s just one thing after another;
surely we’d be better off separating
ourselves from this organisation? But I
think that’s the wrong conclusion to
draw.”
The prime minister suggested that
longer-term, voters may conclude it
would better to remain close to
European policy-making in order to deal
with the crisis, hinting that he may not
call an early referendum.
Cameron met with Poland Prime
Minister Beata Szydlo on Thursday,
where he is trying to win support for
reforms to welfare payments for
migrants within the EU.
Poland is opposed to the reforms, but
Cameron said the pair had “agreed to
work together to find a solution.”
“I want Britain to stay in a reformed
European Union, and the prime minister
has made clear that Poland wants Britain
to remain in the EU,” he said.
However, the Polish prime minister told
reporters she did not “see eye to eye”
with Cameron over welfare and benefits.
Britain has agreed to take in 20,000
refugees from camps in countries
bordering Syria, but is not part of the
official programme to relocate those
arriving independently in Europe.
Germany is keen for European partners
to take in more, with official figures
showing that it registered 964,574 new
asylum seekers in the first 11 months of
the year, putting it on course for a
million arrivals in 2015.
Britain’s Electoral Commission on
Thursday announced that the result of
the EU referendum will be declared in
Manchester, north west England, rather
than London.