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British premier says ministers can campaign for ‘Brexit’

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron speaks during a visit to a housing construction site in Barking, East London Monday Jan. 4, 2016. Earlier Monday Cameron dismissed a new video in which five purported British spies are shot dead by masked Islamic State extremists as propaganda from a group that is losing control of territory in Syria and Iraq. (Jack Hill/Pool via AP) Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron speaks during a visit to a housing construction site in Barking, East London Monday Jan. 4, 2016. Earlier Monday Cameron dismissed a new video in which five purported British spies are shot dead by masked Islamic State extremists as propaganda from a group that is losing control of territory in Syria and Iraq. (Jack Hill/Pool via AP)

By Associated Press January 5, 2016 1 min read

LONDON (AP) – British Prime Minister David Cameron says government ministers will be able to campaign on either side in an in-or-out referendum on European Union membership. The move is a bid to avert a showdown with anti-EU forces in his Conservative Party.

Cameron has committed to holding a referendum on Britain’s membership in the 28-nation bloc by the end of 2017.

He says he will argue to stay in, as long as he gets a new deal for Britain. But Cameron told lawmakers Tuesday that “it will be open to individual ministers to take a different personal position” to that of the government.

Cameron hopes to hold the referendum later this year. But his goals – especially welfare limits intended to control migration – face opposition from other EU leaders.