EU's Barroso to Britain: Don't Alienate Your Friends in Europe

LONDON— European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso will on Monday issue a plea to Britain not to isolate itself in Europe by picking fights over immigration, saying that European Union membership boosts British international clout.

Britain's future in the 28-country trading bloc has been thrown into question by Prime Minister David Cameron, who has adopted an increasingly defiant stance on immigration to tackle the threat of the anti-EU UK Independence Party. UKIP's rising popularity threatens his bid for re-election in 2015.
Barroso, whose 10-year term as head of the EU's executive body comes to an end next month, issued a warning to Cameron on Sunday against trying to seek changes to the EU's freedom of movement rules, saying they were essential to the bloc's internal market.

‘Historic mistake’

In a speech due to be delivered on Monday he will go further, saying that by engaging in such rhetoric on immigration, Britain risks isolating itself in Europe and undermining its attempts to achieve wider reforms.

“It would be an historic mistake if on these issues Britain were to continue to alienate its natural allies in central and eastern Europe,” Barroso will say in a speech at London's Chatham House..............http://www.voanews.com/content/reu-barroso-tells-cameron-britain-should-not-alienate-its-friends-in-the-european-union/2489195.html19/10/14