A senior Tory has urged Eurosceptic MPs to show integrity and vote to leave the European Union, as David Cameron prepared to hold a crucial meeting to finalise the renegotiation of Britain’s EU membership terms.

Former defence minister Liam Fox increased pressure on figures such as Boris Johnson and Michael Gove by pointing out that they will be judged on their decisions as the UK moves towards an in/out referendum.

His comments have been timed to coincide with a crucial meeting between the prime minister and Donald Tusk, the European council president, who was due at Downing Street on Sunday for a working dinner to discuss the details of proposed reforms ahead of a summit in February. A proposed “emergency brake” on EU citizens claiming welfare in the UK is expected to be discussed – but the proposal has already been dismissed by Tory Eurosceptics.

In an interview with Radio 4’s The World This Weekend, Fox said Eurosceptic figures must maintain their integrity and vote to leave the EU, or risk political consequences.

“Remember that the judgment you make will reflect upon your judgment, politically, for the rest of your career. Go with what you actually believe because, whether it is popular or unpopular in the short term, be protected by the cloak of your own integrity. In the end, MPs need to do what they believe is right for the country, not what is right for them,” he said.

Government sources say Cameron is prepared to hold out for as long as it takes to get a proper deal he can sell to the British public, even if it means pushing back the referendum to next year.



The emergency brake proposal has been put forward by Brussels as an alternative to Cameron’s original plan to impose a unilateral four-year curb that other member states ruled out as discriminatory and in breach of the freedom of movement principle.



The prime minister cancelled a trip to Scandinavia to fly to Brussels to discuss the idea with the EU commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, and the president of the European parliament, Martin Schulz.



Cameron said the mechanism was “not good enough” in its current form and he is expected to seek assurances that present levels of migration will be deemed sufficient to trigger it and that it could remain in place “long enough to resolve the underlying problem”, perhaps for up to seven years.



Cameron will insist it should only be regarded as a “stopgap” while a more permanent solution is worked on.

Hilary Benn, the shadow foreign secretary, claimed Cameron had not seen the “big picture” if he was willing to leave the union over welfare reform proposals for EU citizens, which are expected to be published within days.

Benn told the Murnaghan programme on Sky News: “To have brought the whole future of our relationship with the European Union down to this one issue shows that the prime minister, I think, is missing the big picture.”



The shadow foreign secretary said Cameron should have pointed out that the EU has given the UK jobs, investment, growth, security and influence.

“The idea that you would say ‘Well, if I don’t get just this one thing in the perfect form I am seeking, then we are off’ is not actually the leadership we should expect from our prime minister.”

Reaching a deal at the summit on 18-19 February is seen as vital if Cameron wants to hold an early referendum on EU membership because an agreement at a later date would make it hard to schedule a vote before the school summer holidays.

Cameron, however, has insisted he would not do a deal “at any price” and is prepared to hold off with the plebiscite – which must be held by the end of 2017 – if he considers the deal on the table to be inadequate.

Eurosceptics have dismissed the proposals on the table as “pretty thin gruel” that would do little or nothing to stem the flow of would-be workers arriving in the UK, notably from eastern European states.

Steve Baker, the co-chair of the anti-EU Conservatives for Britain group, said Cameron was engaged in a “synthetic” row with Brussels and dismissed the renegotiation as a “farce”.

Speaking on the BBC’s Sunday Politics, Baker indicated there would have to be major changes within Vote Leave to maintain support from MPs.



At the heart of the internal dispute is the role of Cummings and his insistence that they should not join forces with Leave.EU, which is closely aligned to Ukip. Both groups are fighting to achieve official designation from the electoral commission as the main out campaign group – which would entitle them to public funding of more than £500,000.

Asked about the leadership of Vote Leave, Baker said: “Given the severe concerns of my colleagues it’s quite clear there are going to have to be material changes in Vote Leave in order to carry parliamentarians with the campaign.”

It is thought that the proposed benefit ban would be available to all EU states, and be activated when migration levels were deemed high enough to put public services or welfare systems under severe strain.

It is one of four areas where Cameron is seeking reforms, alongside the lifting of member states’ commitment to “ever closer union”, measures to protect non-euro states and improve EU competitiveness, and greater powers for national parliaments.

He is expected to press for the current proposals relating to all four areas to be strengthened further, as well as for action to tackle “back door” immigration into the UK and other “abuses” of free movement rules.



