Nigel Farage tells Eurosceptics to make case for Britain leaving the EU

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Ukip leader warns that pro-EU campaigners are already at 'full throttle'
Those who want Britain to leave must 'get cracking' on making the case
David Cameron has promised an in-out referendum before the end of 2017

By Matt Chorley, Political Editor for MailOnline

Published: 04:02 EST, 30 July 2015 | Updated: 10:04 EST, 30 July 2015

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Nigel Farage today told Eurosceptics to 'get off their backsides' and make the case for Britain leaving the EU.

The Ukip leader said pro-EU campaigners were already at 'full throttle' ahead of David Cameron's promised in-out referendum.

But he warned those who want Britain to sever ties with Brussels need to 'get cracking' and making the positive case for going it alone.

Nigel Farage, pictured today in central London, told Eurosceptics to 'get off their backsides' and make the case for Britain leaving the EU

The Ukip leader said pro-EU campaigners were already at 'full throttle' ahead of David Cameron's promised in-out referendum

The Tory government has promised to renegotiate Britain's membership of the EU, before holding a referendum by the end of 2017.

Mr Cameron has insisted technical talks on the UK's demands for EU reform are going 'quite well'.

But the Prime Minister acknowledged there would be 'road blocks ahead' in his drive to change the terms of the relationship with Brussels.

Discussions over renegotiating the UK's relationship with the EU ahead of an in/out referendum will go on throughout the summer.

But Mr Farage said Eurosceptics who want to see Britain leave the EU must make the case now, instead of rowing about who will lead the out campaign.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'The worry isn't who's going to lead it; the worry is, is there going to be a No campaign at all? Because what we've seen since the general election is the Yes campaign at full throttle.

'I'm not sitting here saying that I will be the leader of the No campaign, but I am telling you that we're going to get cracking and I would encourage other Eurosceptics to get off their backsides and come and help us.'

Mr Farage added: 'The Yes campaign has a lead. They're out there, they're organised, they're doing something every single week.

'And I would say the No campaign has done too little. We've taken our time after the election to get ourselves reorganised; we're going to go out from the first week of September and campaign not in Westminster, not in the studios, but out in the country and reach millions and millions of people and I want others to do the same.'

David Cameron, speaking n a visit to Vietnam, said he would 'rule nothing out' when asked if he would recommend a No vote if his negotiations failed

Meanwhile, Mr Cameron has said he would 'rule nothing out' when asked if he would recommend a No vote if his negotiations failed.

Asked whether the UK could thrive outside the EU, he told the BBC: 'I think we should have the best of both worlds, which is to stay in a reformed European Union, where we will always do a lot of trade and investment and where we want to help write the rules about that trade and investment.'

Speaking during his tour of south-east Asia, he said: 'If we sign these trade agreements as the EU with Vietnam, with Indonesia, with Singapore, just as we saw our trade double with the massive economy of the Republic of South Korea, we can see our trade and our investment grow with all of these countries.

I would encourage other Eurosceptics to get off their backsides and come and help us

Ukip leader Nigel Farage

'This is not a vanity project, it's about jobs at home. That is what this is about.'

Chancellor George Osborne has also warned Britain must fix its economic relationship with Brussels to persuade the voters it is right to remain in the EU.

The senior Tory, who is playing a leading role in renegotiations in Europe ahead of the in/out referendum, said the central attraction of membership was the economic benefits and he preferred to talk about the EU as a 'single market of free trade'.

A university-led campaign aimed at backing Britain's EU membership has already been launched.

Speaking at this week's event, shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna said he would be 'intensely relaxed' should Mr Farage emerge as the figurehead for the 'no' campaign during the in-out referendum.

Conservative former immigration minister Damian Green also claimed the 'no' campaign has a 'delusional level of complacency' about the impact of a British exit from the EU.