UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.Photo: Bloomberg

UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg warned Prime Minister David Cameron that the UK should not withdraw from the EU. Clegg, the leader of Liberal Democratic Party, one of the two parties of the UK’s coalition government, was responding to Cameron’s New Year 2013 speech. Cameron wants the EU to give the UK more power in exchange for its agreement to financial reforms in the Eurozone. Clegg objected to holding a referendum on the issue and said that the UK should use its leadership position in Europe to persuade other EU members to deal with their public debt and pull the EU out of its current difficulties. He said he ‘does not worry’ about a referendum but thinks it would be premature since the EU has yet to propose a specific plan to strengthen the euro. The UK played a leadership role in the EU during the process of forming a common market and widening the bloc, said Clegg.