Keep Britain close to EU, Cameron urges incoming PM May

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Keep Britain close to EU, Cameron urges incoming PM May

7:29 CAT | 13 Jul 2016

Getty / David Cameron

Outgoing Prime Minister David Cameron urged his successor Theresa May on Wednesday to keep Britain close to the European Union, even as she embarks on the monumental task of ending four decades of membership.

Cameron is stepping down after Britons rejected his entreaties and voted to leave the EU in a referendum last month, severely undermining European efforts to forge greater unity and creating economic uncertainty across the 28-nation bloc.

“My advice to my successor, who is a brilliant negotiator, is that we should try to be as close to the European Union as we can be for the benefits of trade, cooperation and of security,” he told parliament in his last appearance before resigning.

“The Channel will not get any wider once we leave the European Union, and that is the relationship we should seek.”

May, 59, must try to limit the damage to British trade and investment as she renegotiates the country’s ties with its 27 EU partners. She must also attempt to unite a divided ruling Conservative party and a fractured nation in which many, on the evidence of the vote, feel angry with the political elite and left behind by the forces of globalization.

Despite the serious backdrop, there was an atmosphere of jocularity in parliament as Cameron traded humorous jabs with beleaguered opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

“This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. Other than one meeting this afternoon with Her Majesty the Queen, the diary for the rest of my day is remarkably light,” Cameron said to laughter in a packed House of Commons.

He later appeared with his wife Samantha and their three children outside their 10 Downing Street residence to deliver his parting remarks to the nation after six years dominated by the Europe question and the aftermath of the global financial crisis.

“It’s not been an easy journey and of course we’ve not got every decision right,” he said, “but I do believe that today our country is much stronger.”

The 49-year-old then left for Buckingham Palace to present his resignation to the queen. May was due to pay her own visit to the monarch to be formally entrusted with the job, before entering 10 Downing Street as Britain’s second woman prime minister after Margaret Thatcher.

In parliament, Cameron said the government was working hard to ensure that an estimated 3 million EU citizens can stay in Britain, but this would depend on reciprocal rights for Britons in Europe.

He took the opportunity to trumpet his government’s achievements in generating one of the fastest growth rates among western economies, chopping the budget deficit, creating 2.5 million jobs and legalizing gay marriage.

Source: Reuters