Cameron plans UK vote on EU exit if he wins poll

He acknowledged that public disillusionment with the EU is “at an all-time high”, using a long-awaited speech in central London to say the terms of Britain’s membership in the bloc should be revised and its citizens should have a say.

Cameron proposed that his Conservative Party renegotiate UK’s relationship with the EU if it wins the next general election, expected in 2015. “Once that new settlement has been negotiated, we will give the British people a referendum with a very simple in or out choice to stay in the EU on these new terms. Or come out altogether,” Cameron said. “It will be an in-out referendum.”

The stated possibility of a referendum is expected to frustrate other EU states currently focused on stemming the euro zone crisis.

Already, speculation over a vote on leaving the EU has prompted a chorus of concern from around the world, stressing the importance of the UK’s presence in the bloc and warning about the economic consequences of a British exit.

Even the US, which normally stays out of disputes among EU states, waded into the debate. The White House said last week President Barack Obama told Cameron in a phone call that “the US values a strong UK in a strong EU”.

But Cameron stressed that his first priority is renegotiating the

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