Cameron pitches British vote on EU relationship

LONDON -- Prime Minister David Cameron pledged yesterday to offer Britons a vote on whether to leave the European Union if his party wins the next election, prompting rebukes from European leaders accusing him of putting the bloc's future at risk over domestic politics.

Saying public disillusionment with the 27-nation EU was "at an all-time high," Cameron used a long-awaited speech to say that the terms of Britain's membership in the bloc should be revised and the country's voters should have a say. He proposed that his Conservative Party renegotiate the U.K.'s relationship with the EU if it wins the next general election, expected in 2015.

"Once that new settlement has been negotiated, we will give the British people a referendum with a very simple in-or-out choice to stay in the EU on these new terms. Or come out altogether," he said.

The speech was seen by many as a gamble to shore up support from Cameron's fractured, increasingly anti-EU party that risks antagonizing other countries focused on stemming the eurozone debt crisis.

The fiercely independent island nation has never been an enthusiastic member of the bloc, seeing itself as culturally different and balking at having policy dictated by Brussels. The drumbeat has grown over fears that new EU regulations to address the debt crisis will further restrict Britain's control over its own economy. -- AP