Cameron: I’ll put immigration at the heart of my EU negotiating strategy

If David Cameron needed reminding of how his conference agenda had been stamped on, it came on the Marr show. The Tories’ conference curtain-raiser of reducing the benefit cap, limiting access to benefits for the under 21s and creating more apprentices was eclipsed by Syria, the Reckless defection, the EU renegotiation and Cameron’s Royal gaffe.

Cameron, who—impressively, given the circumstances—avoided sounding too tetchy, kept stressing that the electoral choice was between him and Ed Miliband. This is the Tories’ squeeze technique. But the more publicity that Ukip gets, the harder it becomes to pull off.

On the EU, Cameron tried to rhetorically address concerns when he said that immigration would be at the heart of his negotiating strategy.