David Cameron will make his ‘game-changer’ speech on immigration tomorrow in which he is expected to say that the UK will leave the EU if it does not secure reforms that allow the government to deny benefits to migrants. He will say:
‘If we cannot put our relationship with the EU on a better footing, then of course I rule nothing out.’
This is not the emergency brake or points-based system that the PM seemed to hint at previously and therefore unless there is more in the speech, some of his MPs may feel rather let down. Many were today saying that they expected it to be reasonably small beer, but others will be pleased at the conditionality Cameron is now attaching to Britain’s ongoing membership. This does suggest, though, that the Prime Minister is not keen to satisfy his backbenchers now with a pledge to secure a reform that European leaders cannot give him.
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