DAVID Cameron is planning to focus his EU referendum campaign on the "risky" consequences of British exit, according to a leaked document detailing the Prime Minister's negotiating stance.
With seemingly only one day to save Greece's place in the eurozone, the note also revealed the Prime Minister had told one of his EU counterparts that it "might be better" for the crisis-hit country to leave the single currency so that its economy could be fixed.
After an intense European Council, dominated by Greece and the Mediterranean refugee crisis but also with the UK Government's reform agenda on the periphery, the note of Mr Cameron's inner thoughts was reportedly an account of a private meeting between him and one of his 27 EU counterparts during his bout of whirlwind diplomacy ahead of this week's Brussels summit.
It claimed the PM had set himself the "firm aim" of keeping the UK in the EU.
But Ukip leader Nigel Farage said the note revealed the Tory leader's much-vaunted renegotiation of the terms of Britain's membership to be "a complete con job".
The PM secured agreement to kick off behind-the-scenes talks on the renegotiation in late-night talks in Brussels on Thursday. EU leaders are to consider the outcome of the talks between EU and UK officials in December.
Prior to the summit, Mr Cameron met around 20 EU leaders and spoke to the others by phone to set out the concerns he wants addressed, including reform to welfare for EU migrants, an opt-out from the requirement for "ever-closer union", greater powers for national parliaments and protection for member states which do not use the euro.
The leaked document states that Mr Cameron would like to hold the referendum next year ahead of his self-imposed deadline of December 2017.
The Prime Minister suggested "Angela and Matteo" - referring to the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, and Matteo Renzi, the Italian premier - had responded positively to his proposals but that the French were "warier" about free movement and welfare reforms.
"The PM said that he had deliberately not produced a lengthy shopping list and had been careful in formulating his wish-list but he needed to get satisfaction on these reform demands. He said that he needed to win the middle ground and, if he is to achieve this, then moderate people needed to feel that the things that bother them about the EU have been dealt with."
The note also suggested Mr Cameron might be prepared to accept a protocol to incorporate the reforms into EU treaties rather than the "full-on" treaty change that he had previously said was necessary.
A No 10 spokeswoman said: "We have said there would be noise during this process. We are not going to give a running commentary on these negotiations."
Meantime, the same note reported that the PM had suggested Greece might be better off outside the euro.
The document supposedly said: "On Greece, the PM wondered if it was wise for Angela Merkel to allow the discussion with Greece to take place at PM level and mused that it might be better for Greece to leave the eurozone in order to sort its economy out; though also accepted that there were major risks in that too."
Eurozone finance ministers will meet today to try to secure an eleventh hour deal and stop Greece crashing out of the eurozone on Monday. It is believed Athens is standing by its tax and pensions plans, including a one-off 12 per cent tax on all corporate profits over £350,000 and a hike in workers' pension contributions. But the IMF is concerned the latest proposals would jeopardise economic growth.
If Greece fails to reach agreement with its creditors, then it could miss a £1.1bn loan repayment due on Tuesday. Failure could lead to controls on how much money people could take from their bank accounts and spark a banking collapse.
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