Britain's Cameron to rally party on EU referendum

David Cameron will present parliament with a deal on EU reforms on Feb. 22, hoping to win support for his campaign to stay in the bloc after London Mayor Boris Johnson dealt a blow by backing a "Brexit".

The British prime minister's speech follows Johnson's dramatic announcement on Feb. 21 that he will back the Leave campaign, despite Cameron having appealed for his support.
 
Cameron had secured the backing of the majority of his cabinet after striking a reform deal at a European Union summit on Friday to give Britain "special status" in the 28-nation bloc.    

But following the announcement, six ministers, including Justice Secretary Michael Gove, said they would support a vote for Britain to leave the European Union.
 
Johnson, a popular figure seen as a contender for Conservative Party leadership, said outside his London home that Cameron's reforms did not fundamentally change the UK's relationship with the European Union.    
In a column for the Daily Telegraph, he wrote that the European Union project had "morphed and grown in such a way as to be unrecognisable" and that there was nothing xenophobic in wanting to quit.
 
"We are seeing a slow and invisible process of legal colonisation, as the EU infiltrates just about every area of public policy," he said, adding that the vote was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to secure a new relationship.
         
Cameron now faces a battle to keep his centre-right Conservatives together while convincing voters he has secured a good enough deal from Brussels for them to support continuing membership.
 
However, Johnson's high-profile decision to oppose the premier has exposed divisions between pro- and anti-EU wings of the party.    

While...