Britain will stay if EU more flexible, says PM Cameron

Reuters
Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron gestures as he speaks at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) annual conference in London, Britain November 9, 2015. REUTERS/Toby Melville

LONDON (Reuters) - The European Union needs to be more flexible if it is to persuade the British people to vote to stay in the bloc at a referendum due by the end of 2017, Prime Minister David Cameron said on Monday. Cameron wants to reform Britain's EU ties and is due to set out his demands in more detail on Tuesday. "You can boil down all of my negotiations to one word: flexibility. Is this organization flexible enough to make sure that countries inside the eurozone can grow and succeed, and countries outside the eurozone like Britain can find what they need as well," Cameron told an audience of business leaders. "If it's flexible enough, we'll stay. If it's not flexible enough we'll have to ask ourselves a very profound question: is this organization for us?" Cameron's speech was briefly interrupted by two hecklers who unfurled a banner reading "CBI - Voice of Brussels" in what appeared to be a protest against the employer group's position on EU membership. (Reporting by Kylie MacLellan; editing by Stephen Addison)