Lloyds boss for UK exiting EU

The chairman of Lloyds Banking Group has said that there was no “compelling economic argument” for Britain to stay in the European Union without a significant change in its relationship with the bloc.

The comments by Norman Blackwell, who was addressing parliament’s House of Lords in a personal capacity rather than as Lloyds chairman, are a boost to those campaigning for Britain to quit the EU in a referendum due by the end of 2017.

British Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron is trying to renegotiate the terms of Britain’s membership and promised that once he has obtained a new settlement he will put the question of whether to stay in or leave to British voters.