Britain's Cameron faces leadership questions over Europe

By Guy Faulconbridge and Andrew Osborn

LONDON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron faced questions about his leadership on Tuesday after he buckled to pressure from within the Conservative Party to bring forward draft legislation enforcing a referendum on Britain's European Union membership.

Just hours after U.S. President Barack Obama cautioned against rushing towards the EU exit, Cameron was forced by a rebellion in his party into promising a bill that would pave the way for an in-out vote on Europe.

But the more Cameron concedes to his Eurosceptic lawmakers, the more they want, deepening the 25-year battle in his party over Europe and undermining his own chances of leading the party to victory in a general election set for 2015.

Divisions over Europe helped bring down the last two Conservative prime ministers, Margaret Thatcher and John Major, and many politicians compared Cameron's position to that of Major whose premiership was riven by rows over Europe.

"There is no way that he (Cameron) can give in any further because he's undermining his own position," said Sheila Gunn, who served as spokeswoman to Major.

"Every time he gives in, the so-called rebels who want Britain to get out of the EU very quickly - will just ask for something more. It's unraveling the knitting. Every time they pull at that knitting, they unravel a bit, they then ask for something more and now it's getting to the point where it's affecting his own position."

Cameron's advisers hope the draft bill on an EU vote will end the bickering that has damaged the party's.

But opponents said that by caving in on such a grave issue, Cameron has lost control of his own party and increased the chances of a challenge to his leadership.

A Downing Street spokesman insisted Cameron was in charge on Tuesday and dismissed the idea that his government was in chaos.

"David Cameron's weakness has turned a European issue into a leadership issue," Labour foreign affairs spokesman Douglas Alexander said.

Cameron's offer of draft legislation marked a climbdown from a promise he made in January to renegotiate the terms of Britain's EU membership and then hold a referendum by the end of 2017.

But some lawmakers had called for further concessions and media reports said Cameron's leadership could be challenged.

Potential rivals include London Mayor Boris Johnson and Education Secretary Michael Gove.

'BANGING ON ABOUT EUROPE'

The three eurosceptic Conservative Party leaders who followed Major failed to get into power and Cameron, in his first conference speech as party leader, warned that Conservatives had become too obsessed by Europe.

"While parents worried about childcare, getting the kids to school, balancing work and family life - we were banging on about Europe," he told the party conference in October 2006.

But since coming to power in a coalition government three years ago, the Conservatives have been rattled by the popularity of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), which campaigns for Britain's withdrawal from the EU and tighter immigration laws.

A Guardian/ICM poll showed that UKIP's support had surged to a record high of 18 percent, while support for Britain's traditional parties had fallen by 4 percentage points each.

UKIP took a quarter of the vote in local elections this month and unless Cameron can convince his party that he can win the next election he is likely to face more challenges to his leadership.

"With the story changing every day, it's very reminiscent of the old John Major days where, really, the government appears to be being blown around by events," said UKIP leader Nigel Farage.

The Guardian poll put Labour on 34 percent, the Conservatives on 28 percent and their coalition partners the Liberal Democrats on 11 percent.

UKIP's poll rating has climbed steadily since Cameron's pledge in January to renegotiate the terms of Britain's EU membership and hold a referendum by the end of 2017.

BREXIT?

Cameron's referendum promise then failed to satisfy Conservative critics who have been pressing him to bring forward the vote to before the next national election in 2015 or to pass a law committing the party to holding a vote by the end of 2017.

Many Conservatives say they want to be part of the EU's single market but that the closer integration of the euro zone means Britain should renegotiate its membership or leave.

About half of British voters want to leave the European Union, which is viewed as anti-democratic and bureaucratic by many British politicians, but for voters utility bills, education and the economy are far more important.

Cameron's bid to renegotiate the terms of Britain's membership has concerned the United States which has warned London that it would lose influence in the world if it did leave the world's biggest economic bloc.

Obama told Cameron on Monday that EU membership was an expression of British influence but delighted Cameron's advisers by appearing to endorse his attempt to fix the relationship.

Germany and France, the only EU economies bigger than Britain, have warned that Cameron cannot "cherry pick" EU policy.

Cameron's policy has also divided his two-party coalition and the EU vote bill is almost certain be opposed by their pro-EU coalition partners, the Liberal Democrats.

Despite Cameron's latest concession, up to 100 Eurosceptic Conservative members of parliament are still expected to back a different amendment this week criticizing legislative plans unveiled by the government because they did not include such a bill.

Conservative lawmaker John Baron, one of the two figures behind the amendment, said Cameron's promise of a draft bill would not persuade him to back down.

"I am sticking by what I am saying. They know that this option could very well fail," he told Reuters. "A far better approach would be to have the courage to support our amendment on Wednesday."

(Additional reporting by Costas Pitas; Writing by Guy Faulconbridge and Andrew Osborn; editing by Giles Elgood)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/britains-cameron-faces-leadership-questions-over-europe-145406999.html

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