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Christopher Walker: Cameron may find he is no longer UK premier over Brexit

Saturday, 18 June 2016 1:56 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 18 June 2016 1:57 PM ]

British Prime Minister David Cameron (AFP photo)

Press TV has interviewed Christopher Walker, a former Moscow correspondent of the Times in London, about British Prime Minister David Cameron’s call for a referendum on the Brexit.

A rough transcription of the interview appears below.

Press TV: I am going to throw the questions that Vladimir Putin asked to you. First, why would the British prime minister initiate this referendum?

Walker: I think it was really initiated for internal political reasons and that he felt very threatened by those on the right of the conservative party, the so-called United Kingdom Independence Party, which has long advocated breaking away from the EU and he thought that one way possibly to put down that threat was to call the referendum but it does appear that he has misjudged badly and that he may nevertheless at the end of this week find he is no longer a prime minister.

Press TV: Let me ask the second question that Vladimir Putin asked. Is David Cameron using this as blackmailing the EU?

Walker: He tried. He did. He went on a very extensive tour of Europe to try and get the sort of reforms that Britain wants, lessening the ties basically between the various European countries, but frankly it did not work and the EU rejected most of his requests and they are in a position, I think, if there is a Brexit, to give Britain a fairly hard time because they do not want a British exit to be followed by the exit of other countries that have a long tradition of European support but in which there is strong anti-Europe feeling mounting in various right-wing parties.

Press TV: Back to your previous comments I got the feeling that you think that there may be rather high possibility of a Brexit that if so would spell resignation of the prime minister. Is that my correct understanding or not?

Walker: That is. Well that is my reading of the current opinion polls which are notoriously not very safe at a time of a referendum but certainly a move towards Brexit [is] growing in the country, a feeling perhaps that the political elite wants to stay in Europe but that many people opposed to immigration are against it. So what was that to happen, and only if, Mr. Cameron would find his position very, very difficult to maintain.

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