EU referendum: Downing Street holds unofficial talks with In Campaign leaders

No 10 also privately endorses decision by Karren Brady to take a leading role in the Britain Stronger In Europe campaign

The launch of the Britain Stronger in Europe campaign in London yesterday, fronted by (left to right) Richard Reed, Karren Brady, Stuart Rose, Roland Rudd, Brendan Barber, Caroline Lucas and June Sarpong (PA)

Senior figures in Downing Street have held unofficial talks with leaders of the campaign to keep to Britain in the European Union, and given their backing to Tory peers who have come out in favour of Britain’s membership.

While publicly maintaining that the Government is “entirely focused on a successful renegotiation”, figures close to the Prime Minister are understood to have held discussions with Andrew Cooper, the former Downing Street aide who is now a leading figure in the “in” campaign.

Downing Street also privately endorsed the decision by the Conservative peer and businesswoman Karren Brady to take a leading role in the Britain Stronger In Europe campaign. The group is also being chaired by another Tory peer, the former Marks &Spencer boss Lord Rose.

While Downing Street does not want to be seen to be prejudging the outcome of European negotiations, it wants to ensure that the pro-EU campaign is in a strong position for when a deal is struck.

Asked about what discussions had been taking place between Number 10 and the “in” campaign, a source said that Downing Street was having “lots of conversations with lots of people”. They did not deny that Lord Rose and Baroness Brady’s roles had been officially sanctioned.

Ukip leader Nigel Farage is the public face of Leave.EU (PA)

But underlining Tory divisions on Europe the central message of the “in” campaign launch was undermined by Boris Johnson, who has repeatedly refused to rule himself out as a possible leader of the “leave” campaign.

Speaking on a visit to Japan, Mr Johnson claimed that the price of Britain quitting the European Union was “lower than it’s ever been”.

While he maintained that his position was the same as that of David Cameron, his remarks will be widely interpreted as leaving the door open for him to campaign against Britain’s membership following any renegotiation, in the hope that a vote to leave would force the Prime Minister from office and undermine George Osborne’s chances of succeeding him.

“I think I am exactly where the Prime Minister is and, I think, actually a huge number of the British public,” he said.

“We want, in an ideal world, to stay in a reformed European Union, but I think the price of getting out is lower than it’s ever been. It’s better for us to stay in, but to stay in a reformed EU. That’s where I am.”

At the launch event in east London for the Britain Stronger In Europe campaign, the former police chief Sir Hugh Orde said the country could be viewed as a safe haven by international criminals if the country voted to end its relationship with Brussels.

He was joined by business leaders who said Britain would be economically less secure outside the union and that a vote to leave could costs both jobs and prosperity.

Sir Hugh, a former president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, predicted that “villains” would come to the UK to escape justice if the country voted to leave, as it would mean pulling out of EU-wide agreements on extradition and sharing evidence.

“If I was a villain somewhere else in Europe and I was escaping justice, I would be coming here because it’s going to take a lot longer to get you back,” he said.

Cross-border extradition arrangements would also have to be redrawn, potentially causing huge delays in the justice process, he said.

 I think the price of getting out is lower than it’s ever been

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Sir Hugh added: “Citizens in this country would be put at risk as a consequence. That’s not scaremongering, it’s simply the fact.”

The campaign’s figurehead, former Marks &Spencer boss Lord Rose, warned of the economic impact of a vote to leave the EU: “Those who want us to leave Europe would risk our prosperity, they would, I believe, threaten our safety and they would, I believe, diminish our influence in the world. We know our economy would take a hit, what we don’t know is how bad that hit would be.”

Attacking the lobby hoping for Britain’s exit he said: “They cannot guarantee that jobs would be safe or that prices wouldn’t rise. They cannot explain how we would stop free movement and simultaneously keep access to the world’s largest duty free market.”

Labour MP Kate Hoey is part of the crossbench support for Vote Leave (Getty)

He cited Confederation of British Industry (CBI) estimates that the combined benefits of trade, investment, jobs and lower prices mean membership is worth £3,000 per year on average to every UK household.

European diplomats expect that the British Government will have to submit detailed written proposals for what it wants out of a renegotiation before a summit of European leaders in December.

These will then be the subject of negotiation with the aim of getting agreement in the first half of 2016. This would allow Mr Cameron to call a referendum in time for his favoured date of September 2016.