Brexit: Battle lines drawn for keeping Britain within EU

Battle lines were drawn in the case for keeping the UK in the European Union as Ireland vowed that workers would not be discriminated against in any EU country.

But the hunt was on for a compromise that Prime Minister David Cameron could sell to his electorate as a win against the UK’s migrant workforce — almost half of which come from other EU countries. Arriving for a meeting that promised to be long and frank, Mr Cameron told journalists: “I will be battling for Britain right through the night, and I think we will be getting a good deal”.

However his proposal to not pay in-work benefits to workers from other EU countries for the first four years is seen as impossible to achieve under EU rules.