Posted on 01/22/2013 5:21:58 PM PST by Sub-Driver
U.K. Rethinks Ties to Europe In Surprise Shift, Cameron to Offer Vote on Staying in EU, Fueling Trade Worries By CASSELL BRYAN-LOW and NICHOLAS WINNING [image] European Pressphoto Agency
U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron, leaving Downing Street in London Tuesday, is setting a risky political path.
LONDONPrime Minister David Cameron plans to let the British people vote on whether or not to stay in the European Union, a surprise move critics say will inhibit trade and cast a new shadow over the troubled bloc. More
Chief Defends Bank of England's Record
Mr. Cameron planned to say in a public address that, if elected in 2015, a Conservative government would renegotiate the U.K.'s relationship with the EU, and then hold a referendum on the new settlement in the first half of its five-year parliamentary term.
Such a referendum would mark the first time in recent years that an EU member has offered its citizens such a vote.
His pledge, set to be delivered Wednesday morning in London, will likely prove unsettling for one of the world's largest trading blocs as members of the EU have been struggling to deal with a debt crisis.
While many people had focused on the risk of Greece leaving the euro zone, the promise of a referendum by Mr. Cameron would raise the prospect of an exit from the EU by one of the bloc's biggest economies and a key financial center. While the U.K. is part of the EU, it doesn't use the euro currency.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
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