- Lib Dem leader says 'arcane debate' will last for years and years and puts growth in peril
- David Cameron said opponents want to 'stick their heads in the sand'
- Prime Minister will deliver long-awaited EU speech in Holland on Friday
- Speech rushed forward to avoid upsetting the Germans
By Matt Chorley, Mailonline Political Editor
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Uncertainty about Britain?s place in Europe will have a ?chilling effect? on jobs and growth, Nick Clegg warned today.
With David Cameron due to give a landmark speech on the European Union on Friday, which is set to trigger a five-year countdown to a referendum, Mr Clegg cautioned against ?jeopardising? the UK?s prime role in Brussels.
The Deputy PM warned it was not ?wise? to place in peril employment in Britain by embarking on an ?an arcane debate that will go on for years and years and years?.
Deputy PM Nick Clegg, who last night unveiled a plaque to the Liberal Party, warned against an 'arcane debate that will go on for years and years and years'
Downing Street later defended the Prime Minister's right to speak out on the issue.
Mr Cameron is under intense pressure from within his own party to use the threat of potential exit from the EU to drive a hard bargain with Brussels to repatriate powers back to London.
He has rushed his long-awaited speech forward to this Friday to appease the Germans who were unhappy at plans to hold it next Tuesday, the 50th anniversary of the Elysee Treaty, which saw France and Germany finally bury the hatchet after decades of conflict and hostility.
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Yesterday the Prime Minister gave the strongest hint yet that he will promise a referendum on Britain?s relationship with the EU after the next election ? after trying to renegotiate a ?fresh settlement?.
But today Mr Clegg insisted the coalition had already legislated to offer a referendum if the EU tried to transfer more powers to Brussels, but more uncertainty was dangerous.
Mr Clegg warned against holding 'a referendum out of thin blue air'
?We've given that clarity, we've provided that certainty that there will be a referendum triggered in the future in those circumstances.
the priority remains jobs and growth not an arcane debate that will go on for years and years and years,? he told BBC Radio 4?s Today programme.
'All I'm saying is we should be very careful at a time when the British economy is still haltingly recovering from the worst economic shock in a generation to create a very high degree and prolonged period of uncertainty.
'In my view, uncertainty is the enemy of growth and jobs because our priority in this government and our priority in the national duty has got to be to foster growth and jobs.
'If you are an investor investing in jobs in the United Kingdom, to create jobs here... I think it is unnecessary to create a high degree of uncertainty that might actually chase away investment and might diminish the number of jobs in this country.'
Mr Clegg said he would focus on Britain?s leadership role in the EU and the need to protect jobs.
?I think that we should be proud of the leadership that we have exercised in the European Union.
?The single market wouldn't have have happened without the Brits.
?I don't think we should do anything to jeopardise our leadership and we certainty shouldn't do anything that would have a chilling effect on jobs in this country.?
Mr Clegg's remarks will be seen as a direct challenge to Mr Cameron, who yesterday accused critics who warn against re-opening the Europe debate of wanting to 'stick your head in the sand'.
The Lib Dem leader also challenged Mr Cameron's idea of renegotiating Britain's membership of the EU, adding: 'I don?t agree with the premise that we can, on our own if you like, unilaterally simply rewrite the terms of our membership for this European club, which is a club which is in need of reform.'
David Cameron accused people who warn against engaging in the Europe debate of 'burying their heads in the sand'
IT'S A DATE: WHY JANUARY 18 IS ALREADY IN THE HISTORY BOOKS
By shifting his speech from January 22 Mr Cameron hopes to avoid offending German and French sensibilities as they celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Elysee Treaty.
But, in a sign of the diplomatic difficulties involved, the new date, January 18, also coincides with a number of other ominous anniversaries:
- The start of the German Second Reich in 1871, when Wilhelm I was proclaimed the first German emperor
- The moment Captain Scott discovered he had been beaten to the South Pole by Norwegian Roald Amundsen in 1912
- The 70th anniversary of the first Warsaw ghetto uprising in 1943, when Polish Jews fought back against the Nazis
- The liberation of Leningrad in 1944 when Soviet forces ended a three-year Nazi siege
- Mr Cameron?s decision to bring pro-European Cabinet minister Kenneth Clarke back to the front bench in 2009
However Number 10 insisted it was right for Mr Cameron to take a lead in the Europe debate.
'The central point here is that the debate around the future of the European Union is already under way,' the Prime Minister's official spokesman said.
'The Prime Minister's view is that it is absolutely in the national interest to take the lead in this debate that is already under way.'
Mr Cameron is due to meet Conservative Cabinet members tomorrow to brief them on the details of his speech.
He spoke by telephone with Swedish prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt last night to discuss his approach to the issue.
The PM yesterday attacked the 'bossiness' of Brussels and insisted he was ?not happy? with every aspect of the UK?s relationship with the rest of Europe.
He added: 'Those that say "this is very dangerous, you?re putting at risk the relationship with Europe, you?re putting at risk our position with regard to business", I don?t agree with that.
'The fact is this debate is happening anyway. So we have a choice as politicians: do you get out there, lead that debate, make the changes that would be right for Britain ? and I would argue right for Europe ? and then give people a choice about that?
'Or do you kind of stick your head in the sand and just hope the debate is going to go away?'
Dubbed 'The Big Speech', Mr Cameron's address on Britain's relationship with Europe has been promised for months.
The waiting began when he used a newspaper article in June 2012 to say: 'For me the two words ?Europe? and ?referendum? can go together.'
In December he defended the delays, claiming the development of his vision for the EU was like tantric sex and would be worth the wait.
Speaking to journalists in Westminster, Mr Cameron said: 'Thank you for reminding me that my Europe speech is as yet unmade.
'This is a tantric approach to policy-making. It will be even better when it does eventually come... That wasn't in the script
The sense of chaos in Number 10 continued yesterday, when the decision to give the speech on Friday was rushed out.
Labour denounced the handling of the issue as a 'shambles'. Shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander said: "When it comes to David Cameron's speech on Europe, he can't seem to decide on a date, let alone a policy. It's not so much a Number 10 strategy as a Number 10 shambles.
'It seems that David Cameron has now been forced to bring forward his speech for the same reason that it was originally delayed - the opposition he faces from within his own party, as well as from Britain's allies and British business has simply overwhelmed him.
'As the chaos continues, this is a Prime Minister who looks unable to control the agenda or his party on Europe.'
A spokesman for Mr Cameron said Dutch PM Mark Rutte will not attend the speech, despite earlier reports that he had been signed up as an ally in the battle with Brussels.
The speech will be delivered to European diplomats, business leaders and 'other interested parties'.
Mr Cameron is determined to set out Tory policy for Europe, despite the criticism of his Mr Clegg
Mr Cameron will meet Mr Rutte for talks during his visit to Holland. He briefed the Dutch PM and German chancellor Angela Merkel over the weekend on what he was planning to say, and is expected to speak to more EU leaders over the coming days.
Mr Cameron's official spokesman declined to say whether the PM thought Mr Rutte would back his stance, saying: 'It is for the Dutch government to set out their views.'
The spokesman said it was 'entirely appropriate' to make the speech in the Netherlands, as it had a similar "global-trading, outward-looking history" to the UK.
European Commission vice-president Joaquin Almunia has warned that it would be a "disaster" for the UK if it withdrew from the EU.
He told the BBC's Hardtalk programme that renegotiating the UK's terms of membership would be 'extremely difficult', adding: 'If you want to be in a club and you want to be an important member of the club - as I think the UK should be - you cannot be influential and relevant saying, 'I don't want this, I don't want that'.'
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