Last week Lord Rose, head of the Britain Stronger in Europe campaign, said his side would not be running a “Project Fear”-style campaign. But his memo does not appear to have been received in Number 10 where today they are running a startling “scare” about what might happen if Britain were to leave the EU.
David Cameron’s team have briefed the Daily Telegraph that Cameron will warn about the Calais refugee camp being displaced to the south of England if Britain votes for Brexit.
Here’s the Telegraph story, and here’s how it starts.
David Cameron is to warn that a Brexit would leave Britain vulnerable to terror attacks and that migrant camps will spring up across the South East of England.
The Prime Minister will make national security issues the centrepiece of his campaign to keep Britain in the European Union.
It is understood he will set out the argument in the days and weeks after he calls the date of the referendum, which is expected to be set later this month ...
Under the 2003 Le Touquet treaty between the UK and France, Britain is allowed to conduct border controls at French rather than UK borders – meaning it checks for migrants stowing away on lorries or trains bound for Britain in Calais, not Dover.
However, Mr Cameron will warn that if Britain leaves the EU, France will stop allowing UK officials to make the checks.
“The French would love to pull out of the arrangement,” a senior source said. “We will be telling people - look, if we leave the EU the Jungle camp in Calais will move to Folkestone. That is not something people want.”
Downing Street has not said this on the record yet, but a Number 10 source told me this morning that they were not challenging the accuracy of the Telegraph story.
Monday's Telegraph front page -
— Nick Sutton (@suttonnick) February 7, 2016
PM: Brexit will bring 'Jungle' to Kent #tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers pic.twitter.com/6fuh5Iyvwp
This morning Matthew Elliott, the Vote Leave chief executive, accused Cameron of “blatant scaremongering”. He said:
This is blatant scaremongering from Number 10 that has no grounding in reality. UK border controls are in France because of a bilateral treaty, not because of our EU membership, and a result of the camps in Calais, not the cause of them. Clearly, No 10 is in a blind panic over the failing renegotiation.
I will post more on this story as it develops.
Here is the agenda for the day.
Morning: David Cameron visits a prison.
10am: The Institute for Fiscal Studies publishes its green budget.
11am: Number 10 lobby briefing.
12.45pm: Cameron gives a a speech on prisons policy in London.
1.30pm: Make Votes Matter holds a conference on electoral reform.
2.30pm: Patrick McLoughlin, the transport secretary, gives evidence to the Commons transport committee on airport expansion in the south east.
I will be pay particular attention to the Calais story and Cameron’s prisons speech but I will be also covering all the breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web. I will post a summary at lunchtime and another in the afternoon.
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