Cameron Cancels Major Speech On Europe

David Cameron has cancelled a key speech setting out his vision for Britain's future in Europe because of the Algerian hostage crisis.

The Prime Minister postponed his visit to the Netherlands where he was to make what has been described as the "most important speech on Europe by a British PM since 1945".

Foreign Secretary William Hague will also return early from Australia to deal with the aftermath of the drama at the gas plant in In Amenas.

A Liberal Democrat MEP was condemned by his own party after sending a tweet following news of the postponement insinuating al Qaeda had won victory over Mr Cameron.

Mr Watson, who represents South West England and Gibraltar, took to Twitter to write: "Al Qaeda 1, @David--Cameron 0."

After fierce criticism from his own party the MEP apologised and took the tweet down.

Extracts from a speech that Mr Cameron was planning to make show that the Prime Minister intended to make clear that he wants the UK to play a "committed and active" part in the EU in the future.

But he was also planning to warn that, if changes are not made to address the three key challenges of eurozone crisis, economic competitiveness and dramatically declining public support, "the danger is that Europe will fail and the British people will drift towards the exit".

Mr Cameron has won support for his stance from London mayor Boris Johnson, who said: "We ... want to complete the single market - which everyone supports - and we want to get rid of some of the barnacles that have become attached to the hull."

But Labour leader Ed Miliband warned the PM was about to take Britain "to the edge of an economic cliff" by creating uncertainty for business, while Vince Cable warned him not to take a "dangerous gamble" with the national interest.

The Business Secretary said there was a risk that Mr Cameron could end up taking Britain out of the EU "by accident".

Eurosceptics in the City as well as Tory backbenchers including former Cabinet ministers have called on Mr Cameron to offer Britain "a clear choice" over its membership of the European Union.

The extracts released by Downing Street did not reveal whether the Prime Minister intended to commit himself to an in/out referendum on British membership of the EU following the renegotiation of its terms which he has already said he plans to undertake after the 2015 general election.

Mr Cameron sought to prepare the ground for his speech by calling his opposite numbers in Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands earlier in the week.

On Thursday he discussed what he was planning to say on European policy in telephone calls with US president Barack Obama and French president Francois Hollande.

The Obama call followed last week's unusually direct intervention in the debate by the US, when assistant secretary for European affairs Philip Gordon made clear the White House wanted "a strong British voice" in the EU and said referendums risked turning countries "inward".

British ambassador to the US, Sir Christopher Meyer, described it as the most important speech on Europe by a British PM since 1945.