David Cameron: Public feel left out of EU debate

The Prime Minister is preparing to make a long-awaited speech about Europe.

It could turn out to be the most important speech of his political career. Britain's membership of the European Union has always threatened to split the Conservative Party in two.

Speaking to the Today programme, David Cameron said: "I'm in favour of Britain's membership of the European Union. I believe Britain does have a European future... it's in our national interest.

"But frankly there is a debate going on in Britain about our relationship with Europe, a lot of people, including me, are not happy, with some of the nature of that relationship, and I think there's an opportunity to get that relationship right.

"I think if we had an 'in/out' referendum tomorrow, we'd be giving people a false choice. Right now there are a lot of people that say they would like to be in Europe but are not happy with every aspect of the relationship and want it changed.

"The British public feel increasingly fed-up that they've been left out of this debate. They've been promised opportunities to vote in referendums and then had those taken away from them."

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4's Today Programme on Monday 14 January 2012.