EU reform package receives mixed response in North-East

The deal, announced after months of negotiation, offers an "emergency brake" on migrant welfare, protections for non-eurozone states and a legally-binding assurance that the UK is not expected to pursue integration through "ever-closer union".

Prime Minister David Cameron speaks to factory staff at the Siemens Chippenham plant

It was good enough, the Prime Minister said, that he "sure would" back Britain joining the Eu under these terms if it were not already a member.

Mr Cameron left little room for doubt that he will campaign for the UK to stay in Europe in an in/out referendum which he said could come within "a few months", and is widely expected in June.

The changes, proposed by European Council president Donald Tusk, offered Britain "the best of both worlds" by giving it access to the single market and a voice around the table at the Council, while allowing it to remain outside the euro and the Schengen border-free area, said Mr Cameron.

Phil Wilson, the Sedgefield MP, co-chair of the Labour In For Britain organisation, said: “The most important part of this referendum is that we vote to stay in the EU because the region’s jobs, prosperity and security depends on us being in the EU. World-leading companies like Nissan and Hitachi, and thousands of jobs, depend on access to the EU and it would be an act of economic vandalism to come out."

North-East UKIP MEP Jonathan Arnott described the deal as containing “nothing of substance at all.”

“After all the hot air is this all he is able to come with? You can fool some of the people some of the time but I don’t think anyone will be fooled by his claims,” he said. “He basically asked for nothing of importance and has achieved just that. If he had been serious he would have fought for meaningful changes such as the reintroduction of UK border control so we decide numbers and qualifications of entrants."

Lord Callanan, formerly a North-East MEP and leader of the Conservatives in the European Parliament, said the deal was disappointing and failed to deliver the fundamental reform he had hoped for.

"We need a serious repatriation of powers - employment and social law for a start. The EU has no right to be interfering in those areas. And there's no change to our budget contributions."

Asked whether the Prime Minister had failed, he said: "We haven't seen the final outcome. Negotiating in Europe can be difficult."

Andy Saunders, regional chairman of Business for Britain North East, said the changes were trivial and would not deliver the "fundamental change" needed to the UK-EU relationship.

"The British people want to take back control of our borders, our economy and our democracy. Nothing on this list addresses these issues.

"The only way to end the supremacy of EU law and take back control is to Vote Leave."

Jeremy Middleton, the millionaire Tory supporter, said he was pleased with the deal, it addressed some of the problems of EU membership and, if Mr Cameron can deliver what he said he could, the UK would be better off inside the EU.

"As a big exporting region I don't want us to spend two years negotiating to get a free trade deal with Europe that we already have. That would put off investors and cost jobs."

Professor Thom Brooks, a professor of law and government at Durham University and Labour supporter, said the migration deal would be a hard sell and 10 Downing Street would have a difficult time winning over a sceptical public.

"Cameron has done well to get any deal on the table of EU leaders. But his plans lack the clarity of message of his Eurosceptic opponents.

"While restricting EU migrant benefits is popular, that it can only be temporary, proportional and at the discretion of the EU is a complex proposal that may prove hard to build public enthusiasm for."