EU deal gives UK special status

David Cameron says a deal struck with EU leaders will give the UK "special status" and he will campaign with his "heart and soul" to stay in the union.

The PM said the agreement, reached late on Friday after two days of talks in Brussels, would include a seven-year "emergency brake" on welfare payments.

He added the deal included changes to EU treaties and would be presented to his cabinet on Saturday at 10:00 GMT.

EU exit campaigners said the "hollow" deal offered only "very minor changes".

The unanimous agreement reached at the EU summit was announced by European Council president Donald Tusk, who tweeted: "Deal. Unanimous support for new settlement for #UKinEU."

It paves the way for the UK to hold an in/out referendum on EU membership, which has been promised by the end of 2017 but is expected in June this year.

The new deal includes:

    Cuts in child benefit for the children of EU migrants living overseas - applicable immediately for new arrivals and from 2020 for the 34,000 existing claimants
    The amending of EU treaties to state explicitly that references to the requirement to seek ever-closer union "do not apply to the United Kingdom"
    An "emergency brake" on migrant workers' in-work benefits that will apply for seven years - less than the 13 years the PM proposed but longer than other countries had asked for
    The ability for the UK to enact emergency safeguards to protect the City of London

German Chancellor Angela Merkel predicted the package of reforms would "elicit support in the UK for the country to remain in the EU"......http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-35616768
20/2/16