Cameron To Present MPs With Case To Stay In EU

David Cameron is preparing to present MPs with his case for Britain remaining in the EU - hours after Boris Johnson declared he would be supporting the Out campaign.

The Prime Minister will address the Commons at 3.30pm this afternoon after a tumultuous week in which he struck a deal for a reformed Europe and announced 23 June as the date Britain would vote in an EU referendum.

Mr Cameron will set out details of the deal agreed after marathon talks in Brussels and which he says will give Britain greater sovereignty and political autonomy while remaining at the heart of a reformed Europe.

But Mr Johnson's intervention, a day after Mr Cameron appealed for voters to back his re-negotiated deal, boosted support for a British exit from the EU and galvanised the referendum debate.

In one of his most outspoken attacks on Europe, the Mayor said voters were disillusioned over the inability of their elected politicians to take decisions in the face of control from Brussels.

"I want a better deal for the people of this country; to save them money and to take back control," he said.

"After 30 years we have a chance to do something about this."

Writing in his column in the Daily Telegraph, Mr Johnson highlighted what he declared was the impotence of British politicians to deal with issues such as immigration.

"That enrages them; not so much the numbers as the lack of control," he said.

"That is what we mean by loss of sovereignty - the inability of people to kick out, at elections, the men and women who control their lives."

Mr Johnson's father Stanley hit back at critics who suggested his son's alignment with the Out campaign was part of a long-term bid to become PM.

Speaking to Sky News, he said: "There is nothing in it in career terms because no-one is going to give him a Cabinet job now.

"If anything, what Boris has done today is a career-shattering move."

UKIP leader Nigel Farage tweeted his support for Mr Johnson's decision to join the Out campaign.

"Delighted that @BorisJohnson supports Leave side and I hope he throws his full weight behind campaign to get UK out of the EU," he said.

Meanwhile, the bosses of up to half of Britain's 100 biggest companies are preparing to back the campaign to stay in Europe by signing a letter in support of the PM's re-negotiation package, as Sky News revealed yesterday.