David Cameron may yet campaign for Britain to leave the European Union, Business Secretary Sajid Javid said last night.

Mr Javid, one of the most Eurosceptic members of the Cabinet, said voters should not assume that the Prime Minister would recommend staying in the EU if negotiations to change the UK's relationship with Brussels go badly.

His comments came as a poll for the Daily Mail revealed that more than three-quarters of voters want Mr Cameron to reach a deal with Brussels to limit the number of EU migrants entering Britain.

'Nothing is off the table': Mr Javid, right, said voters should not assume that the Prime Minister, left, would recommend staying in the EU if negotiations to change the UK's relationship with Brussels go badly

Mr Cameron has repeatedly said he hopes to be in a position to campaign for Britain to stay in a 'reformed EU' in the in/out referendum promised by the end of 2017.

Most observers believe there are almost no circumstances in which the Prime Minister would campaign to leave.

But, speaking to the Mail ahead of the Conservative Party conference this weekend, Mr Javid said: 'The right approach now is to put all our efforts into getting the changes that we want to see and increasing the chance of getting those.

'We will then look at what we have achieved and that's the time to make up our mind up. But remember, the PM has also said nothing is off the table.'

Asked whether this meant Mr Cameron could campaign for Britain to leave the EU if he fails to get significant concessions, Mr Javid added: 'He said nothing is off the table, those are his words.'

ENOCH POWELL STILL CASTS SHADOW OVER TORIES, SAYS JAVID Enoch Powell still casts a shadow over the Conservative Party’s relations with ethnic minorities, Sajid Javid has said. The Business Secretary, who is the first Asian man to serve in a Tory Cabinet, warned that some voters were still put off voting Tory by Mr Powell’s legacy 17 years after his death. Powell’s notorious Rivers of Blood speech, which was delivered in Birmingham in April 1968, sparked widespread condemnation. He called for the ‘repatriation’ of non-white immigrants, claiming the racial mix in Britain would lead to city riots. Mr Javid said: ‘I still come across ethnic minority voters who refer to Enoch Powell. Some of them were not even born but they have heard about it. Sometimes it is used against Conservatives by people who say, “look, your party had someone like this”.’ He said he would still like to see the Prime Minister publicly repudiate Mr Powell’s views, but insisted it was ‘not a priority’. Advertisement

Mr Javid, who went to Redcar, near Middlesbrough, yesterday to unveil an £80million package to help workers hit by the closure of the local steelworks, said the Tories would use next week's conference to try to seize the political centre ground.

He said Labour was now in 'disarray and not offering a serious alternative government'.

'They have taken all the wrong lessons from the election,' he said. 'From our point of view, in a business sense, if a competitor is having trouble at the top I am not interested in attacking the personality of the chief executive, I am much more interested in pinching their customers. That is going to be this government's focus – showing people, including those who didn't vote for us last time, that we are on their side too.'

Mr Javid, the son of an immigrant bus driver, ducked questions about his own leadership ambitions.

But he insisted he would not use his humble background as a weapon in any future contest against more privileged rivals such as George Osborne or Boris Johnson – saying he rejected Labour's 'class war' approach to politics.

The ComRes poll for the Daily Mail found that 78 per cent want Mr Cameron to make a reduction in the number of people moving to the UK from the continent a priority in his renegotiation agenda.

He has all but accepted he is unlikely to succeed in persuading his European partners such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel to impose any limits on the numbers who can come to Britain.

Obstacle: Angela Merkel (left) is among those Mr Cameron (right) will have to win over in his renegotiation

But asked whether they thought it was important that Mr Cameron secured curbs to free movement, 54 per cent said it was very important.

Even more popular was restricting the benefits EU citizens entering the UK can receive – listed as very important by 55 per cent.

The poll also found that 58 per cent want to stay in the EU, far higher than the 35 per cent who would opt to leave if the referendum were held now.