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EU row: Cameron has 'low opinion of British people'

Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith has accused the Prime Minister of having "a low opinion of the British people" by downplaying the UK's prospects if it left the EU.

It comes after a Sunday newspaper column in which David Cameron accused MPs backing an EU exit of wanting to take "the gamble of the century" with the country's future.

Amid rising tensions between the pro- and anti-Brexit camps, Mr Cameron has reportedly been threatened with a challenge to his leadership unless he tones down attacks on MPs backing the "leave" campaign.

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Ex-Tory leader Michael Howard backs EU exit

Lord Howard says he believes Britain should vote to leave EU Credit: Stefan Rousseau/PA

Former Tory leader Michael Howard has backed an EU exit after branding EU renegotiations a "failure".

Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Lord Howard said he believes Britain should vote to leave to "shake Europe's leaders out of their complacency" as attempts to renegotiate Britain's place in the union had been "met with failure".

I had hoped that when the Prime Minister announced his intention to commence negotiations for a new relationship between the UK and the EU he might be able to achieve fundamental reform along these lines.

When he spoke, at the outset of the negotiations, of the need for fundamental reform, I believe he may have had something of this kind in mind.

It is not his fault that those efforts met with failure. It is the fault of those EU leaders so mesmerised by their outdated ambition to create a country called Europe that they cannot contemplate any loosening of the ties which bind member states.

There is only one thing that just might shake Europe's leaders out of their complacency: the shock of a vote by the British people to leave."

– Lord Howard
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