EAST Hampshire MP Damian Hinds will be campaigning to stay in Europe in the run up to the European Union (EU) referendum.

He released a statement regarding his intentions after it was announced that the poll, which Hinds believes is our “biggest national choice in a generation”, will be held on Thursday, June 23.

The district’s MP said he made his mind up on which way to vote when he read the details of the deal prime minister David Cameron brokered with other EU?leaders in Brussels. Setting out the reasons for his decision, Mr Hinds, who lives between Petersfield and Alton, said:?“I think there are good points to be made for both sides but on balance, I believe that, after the settlement the Prime Minister has negotiated, Britain will be better off and more secure if we remain a member of the EU.

“The single market has been important for our economic growth. The combination of EU membership and the English language has underpinned our strong rate of inward investment.

“As part of the EU we have more negotiating weight in trade deals with third parties from China to America.

“But there are also many features of the EU’s operation – and apparent direction – that had come to be of profound frustration to the people of Britain.

“The binding agreement the PM has now made with the other 27 nations delivers on the manifesto we presented to the British people and that I stood on for election here in East Hampshire.

“It makes clear we will not move to ‘ever closer union’, safeguards our competitiveness and the interests of key UK sectors, guarantees the position of countries which have not adopted the Euro, and in our case never will, and curbs the ‘pull factor’ of welfare benefits on immigration.

“The supposed alternative arrangements to EU membership – a Swiss or Norwegian-style relationship – don’t look quite so good when you get below the surface. They still have to accept many of the rules of the EU.

“The question is whether, on balance, and following this agreement, it is better to be in rather than out, whether we will be stronger, safer, better off. I believe we will.”