Reaction to British PM David Cameron's EU deal

LONDON - British Prime Minister David Cameron has agreed a deal with EU leaders he hopes will persuade Britons to vote to remain in the European Union at a referendum likely in June.

Here is the reaction to Cameron's EU deal:

GEORGE OSBORNE, BRITISH FINANCE MINISTER

"We are stronger, and safer and better off in the EU and the alternative is a big leap in the dark with all the risks that that involves.

"I think what you see in this agreement that the Prime Minister has delivered is a special status for Britain in the European Union.

"We get the best of the both worlds, we get access to the single market for our businesses, so that creates jobs, but we don't have the costs of the euro zone, we have the security of being in the EU but we are not signed up to ever closer union, we end the something for nothing culture when it comes to benefits from migrants - these are big wins."

JEREMY CORBYN, LEADER OF BRITAIN'S OPPOSITION LABOUR PARTY

"Despite the fanfare, the deal that David Cameron has made in Brussels on Britain's relationship with the EU is a sideshow, and the changes he has negotiated are largely irrelevant to the problems most British people face and the decision we must now make.

"His priorities in these negotiations have been to appease his opponents in the Conservative Party. He has done nothing to promote secure jobs, protect our steel industry, or stop the spread of low pay and the undercutting of wages in Britain.

"We will be campaigning to keep Britain in Europe in the coming referendum, regardless of David Cameron's tinkering, because it brings investment, jobs and protection for British workers and consumers. Labour believes the EU is a vital framework for European trade and cooperation in the 21st century, and that a vote to remain in Europe is in the best interests of our people."

ALEX SALMOND, FORMER NATIONALIST LEADER OF SCOTLAND

"I think the referendum across the UK is on a knife-edge, it will depend entirely on how it's argued. I don't rate the deal that Cameron has done in Brussels, I think it's about marginal issues.

If we were dragged out against our will by the votes of a much larger English (electorate), then the pressure for another independence referendum in Scotland would be irresistible and I think very rapid."

THERESA MAY, BRITAIN'S INTERIOR MINISTER

"It means we keep control of our right to decide which criminal justice measures we participate in. It strengthens our ability to deport dangerous foreign criminals. And while European countries must work together to tackle terrorism, it makes clear that our national security is ultimately our responsibility, not Europe's.

"The EU is far from perfect, and no one should be in any doubt that this deal must be part of an ongoing process of change and reform - crucial if it is to succeed in a changing world.

"But in my view - for reasons of security, protection against crime and terrorism, trade with Europe, and access to markets around the world - it is in the national interest to remain a member of the European Union."

NIGEL FARAGE, HEAD OF UK INDEPENDENCE PARTY

"This is a truly pathetic deal. Let's leave the EU, control our borders, run our own country and stop handing 55 million pounds every day to Brussels."

JOHN LONGWORTH, DIRECTOR GENERAL, BRITISH CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE

"Businesses across Britain will be relieved that the horse-trading between Westminster and Brussels is now concluded, and that the hard work of recent months could potentially deliver some benefits for the UK.

"There is no certainty at this stage whether the deal's outcomes are legally enforceable and irreversible. What's more, the deal falls well short of the business expectations we set out nearly a year ago.

"If delivered, this deal would change some aspects of the UK's relationship with the EU. Yet it is inescapable that, deal or no deal, the EU itself remains largely unreformed."