SOUTHAMPTON’S new Conservative MP says he will vote to quit the European Union without big changes to rules on immigration, fishing and farming.

Royston Smith demanded a “fundamental renegotiation” of Britain’s relationship with Brussels before he could be convinced to back staying in.

Mr Smith said he was confident that David Cameron could pull off that renegotiation, saying: “He is demonstrably the man for the job.”

But he urged people not to be scared of a future outside the EU, adding: “We are big enough in the world to survive and thrive.”

The Itchen MP spoke ahead of swearing in as MP for Itchen, after defeating Labour with a majority of 2,316 – to the shock of many Labour supporters.

He is an arch-Eurosceptic who was campaign manager for the Referendum Party at the 1997 election as it argued for a vote on EU membership, before joining the Tories.

Mr Smith told the Daily Echo: “If there was a referendum tomorrow, I would vote to pull out.

“There has to be a fundamental renegotiation – including on the free movement of people, as opposed to the free movement of labour.

“At the moment, if a Polish plumber comes over, he can bring 20 members of his family even without having a job first and even if he can’t afford to.”

Mr Smith also pointed to agriculture and fishing as other areas where many British people believed the EU wasn’t working in this country’s favour.

He said: “When we give money to Europe, it disappears into a massive bureaucracy. Our farmers get some of it back, but the French farmers get the most back.

“And Spanish fishermen can fish just beyond British waters, then land their catch in Cornwall. A lot of our fishermen feel that’s unfair and that it is why their fishing fleets are smaller.”

Although a Eurosceptic, Mr Smith insisted he would not join the so-called “awkward squad” of Tory backbenchers, a group of 50-plus opposed to the EU on any terms.

Instead, he said: “David Cameron has cut the EU budget, protected us from bailouts and led us in the most successful negotiations in recent times.

“I have complete confidence that he can renegotiate a settlement that many people can be happy with. He is demonstrably the man for the job.”

The prime minister has pledged to stage the EU referendum by the end of 2017, but wants to hold it next year if possible.

A key aim is to block migrants from claiming tax credits and housing benefit for the first four years after their arrival, but this may require a change to the EU’s founding treaties.