The war within the Conservative Party over Britain's EU referendum has escalated sharply after former cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith accused David Cameron of allowing Germany to veto one of his key negotiation demands. Mr Duncan Smith, who resigned as secretary of state for work and pensions in March, told the Sun newspaper that the prime minister abruptly changed the text of a speech in November 2014 after German chancellor Angela Merkel intervened.
“I know that right up until the midnight hour, there was a strong line in there about restricting the flow of migrants from the European Union – an emergency brake on overall migration. That was dropped, literally the night before. And it was dropped because the Germans said if that is in the speech, we will have to attack it,” he said.
“There is no question in my mind that keeping the Germans on side was the only thing that really mattered. We wanted to use the Germans to work the others in the room. They had the ultimate power over it.”
Downing Street stopped short of denying Mr Duncan Smith’s assertion but said that Mr Cameron decided of his own accord to drop the demand for an “emergency brake”. Germany, in common with other EU member states, made clear throughout the negotiations with Britain that a formal cap on EU migrant numbers would represent an unacceptable breach of the principle of free movement of people. The final deal agreed in Brussels in February instead included limits on in-work benefits for workers from other EU member states.
Sharper tone
The tone of the argument between Conservatives on both sides of the referendum debate has become sharper in recent days, with Mr Cameron ridiculing justice secretary Michael Gove’s claims about a post-
Brexit
trade deal and Boris Johnson accusing the prime minister of achieving nothing in his renegotiation.
In a speech in London yesterday, Mr Duncan Smith said that “despite its grand early intentions”, the EU had become a friend of the haves rather than the have-nots. He said the EU was working well for Germany, but not for the poorer countries of southern Europe, and for banks and big companies but not for small businesses or the low-paid in Britain.
He urged those in Britain who believed they have benefited from EU membership to consider those who have not before they cast their vote.
“We are going to see increasing divides between people who have a home of their own and those who are, to coin a phrase, at the back of a queue – a lengthening queue – to ever get on the housing ladder. People who have jobs that aren’t threatened by automation and people who live in the shadow of the impact of technological innovation. People who benefit from the immigration of cheap nannies and baristas and labourers, and people who can’t find work because of uncontrolled immigration,” he said.
While the Leave campaign focused on immigration, the Remain campaign continued to emphasise the issue of national security, with a slew of former Nato leaders and US defence experts warning that Britain would be less secure if it leaves the EU.
