The ‘In’ and ‘Out’ EU referendum campaigns begin to take shape

The campaigns to keep Britain ‘In’ or ‘Out’ of the EU are keen to begin their work. The Times today reveals details of a cross-party Eurosceptic group, which is expected to morph into the Brexit campaign. From the Conservatives, Owen Paterson, Steve Baker and Bernard Jenkin are part of this new group. Kate Hoey, Kelvin Hopkins and Graham Stringer represent Labour, while Douglas Carswell has been attending meetings on behalf of Ukip. Dominic Cummings, Michael Gove’s former adviser, has been brought on board to oversee the committee and Stuart Wheeler, a former Ukip donor, is one of the financial backers.

If the Out-ers hope to be successful, this is just the sort of broad group they need to persuade the British public why its future is best outside of the EU. In a statement launching the group’s ‘exploratory committee’, which remains nameless at present, the Eurosceptics warned that David Cameron is not pushing far enough with his renegotiation:

‘The prime minister set this objective when he described the renegotiation in his Commons statement of March 23 as “an opportunity to reform the EU and fundamentally change Britain’s relationship with it.”