George Osborne adds meat to Britain’s EU reform demands

George Osborne is speaking in Germany today, where he will apparently tell a business conference that Britain does not want ‘ever-closer union’ and the other EU member states will have to respect and work with this, if they don’t want to see a Brexit:

‘Remain or leave, is the question our democracy has demanded we put because, quite frankly, the British people do not want to be part of an ever-closer union.

‘We want Britain to remain in a reformed European Union, but it needs to be a European Union that works better for all the citizens of Europe – and works better for Britain too. It needs to be a Europe where we are not part of that ever closer union you are more comfortable with.

‘In the UK, where this is widely interpreted as a commitment to ever-closer political integration, that concept is now supported by a tiny proportion of voters. I believe it is this that is the cause of some of the strains between Britain and our European partners.