Cameron attacks Johnson for 'rolling the dice' on EU decision

The Prime Minister ridiculed London Mayor Boris Johnson after he watered down his support for Britain swapping its EU membership for a Canada-style trade deal with Europe.

Mr Johnson used his regular radio phone-in show to shift to support for Britain having “associate membership” of the EU.

Speaking to mark the 100 days before the referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU, Mr Cameron said: “Canada is a country 4,000 miles away from the continent of Europe that does 10 per cent of its trade with the EU.

“We are a country just 20 miles away from the continent of Europe and we do 50 per cent of our trade with the European Union.

“So a Canada deal is not the right deal for us.

“Today, the leaders of the Leave campaign are saying they don’t really want a Canada deal at all, that they weren’t right about that. They are literally making it up as they go along.

“They are rolling the dice, they are taking a risk and they are taking a risk with people’s jobs, taking a risk with families’ finances and I don’t think that is good enough for the British people.”

Mr Johnson had previously appeared to endorse Canada’s arrangements with the EU as a potential model for Britain in the future.

But during his LBC phone-in show, he said: “William Hague wrote a very interesting piece the other day suggesting that there could be a future for Britain joining with Turkey as not an EU member, but an associate member. I thought that was interesting.

“The only way we can achieve that is for Britain to vote to leave and to strike this new relationship, which people don’t believe can be done.

“It’s not pie in the sky, it’s the way forward - do a free trade deal, take back control over borders, over the way we run our trade system, the way we run virtually half the legislation in this country.”

Former Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Mandelson risked fuelling criticism that the ‘remain’ campaign is trying to scare voters when he used a speech to the British Irish Chamber of Commerce to argue Britain leaving the EU could pose a risk to the peace process.

Lord Mandelson claimed a British exit would lead to a “hard border” between Northern Ireland and the Republic which would bolster extremists.

The EU had been “an enabler of peace of Northern Ireland and a fundamentally stabilising presence in Ireland’s recent history”, and shared membership had help “underpin” the Good Friday Agreement.

He said: “Why would we sacrifice such a steadying force for uncertainty and unknowns?

“The direction of policy for the last 30 years has been to make this border less prominent and less conspicuous for all the reasons we understand.

“For practical purposes it has all but disappeared.

“As a result there is greater political cooperation and indeed tentative steps now towards a much more prosperous and sustainable all-Ireland economy.”

Hull and Humber Chamber of Commerce has confirmed it will not be declaring support for either side of the EU campaign given the balance of business opinion.

Chamber president Owen Finn said: “This is a massive decision for the UK and will affect future generations – let’s get it right.”