Business, political leaders back British campaign to stay in EU

LONDON | BY ELIZABETH PIPER

Campaigners for Britain to remain in the European Union will make a "patriotic case" that the country is safer in Europe, the group said on Sunday, bringing in business leaders, politicians and television personalities to lead the cause.

Called "Britain Stronger in Europe", the 'in' campaign will launch on Monday, keen to show it has broad appeal to fight for Britain's membership of the EU, the world's largest trading bloc, before a referendum which Prime Minister David Cameron said will be held by the end of 2017.

Cameron conceded ground to Eurosceptics in his ruling Conservatives by offering the referendum, hoping to bury an issue that divided the party for years, but the British public is increasingly split over Europe, further complicating a vote that may cast a shadow over his last five years in power.

A day after naming Conservative peer Stuart Rose, former boss of the Marks and Spencer (MKS.L) store chain, as its head, the 'in' campaign said it would also be backed by fellow Conservative peer, businesswoman and television personality Karren Brady and Peter Mandelson, a former Labour minister and European trade commissioner, among others.

"With backgrounds in security, culture, business, the youth movement, trade unions, academia and politics, our board are ready to make the case for why Britain is stronger, safer and better off in Europe," Will Straw, executive director of Britain Stronger in Europe, said in a statement.

"We chose the name Britain Stronger in Europe because in the coming referendum we will make a positive and patriotic case that it is in Britain's interest to remain part of Europe."

Cameron has pledged to renegotiate Britain's relationship with the EU to get "the best of both worlds" by asking for guarantees the country will be kept out of ever-closer union and that the euro is not the EU's official currency, protecting the pound in a multi-currency union.

He personally favours Britain staying in a reformed EU, but has said he would not be heartbroken to leave.

Opinion polls are increasingly split over whether the public wants to stay or not, with the migration crisis in Europe spurring fears about open borders with the 28-member bloc.

'Britain Stronger in Europe' will argue that the country would lose its most profitable market if it left the EU.

"Forty-four percent of what this country exports goes to the EU ... the EU's the biggest game in town," said Richard Reed, co-founder of the Innocent smoothie brand and part of the 'in' campaign. "Let's not poke that big customer in the eye."

The main campaign to leave the European Union, called 'Vote Leave', launched on Thursday, drawing together politicians from the ruling Conservatives and opposition Labour party, and business leaders such as billionaire hedge fund manager Crispin Odey.

But 'out' campaigners are split, with Vote Leave competing with rival campaign, Leave. EU, backed by the Eurosceptic anti-EU United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP).

For many Eurosceptics, the renegotiation is a waste of time.

Nigel Farage, head of UKIP, told Sky News Cameron's demands of the European Union "amount to nothing".

(Reporting by Elizabeth Piper; Editing by Janet Lawrence)