FORMER chancellor Ken Clarke has warned that there is a "real risk" of a UK exit from the European Union.
Speaking to the BBC Mr Clarke – who also represents Rushcliffe in parliament – said pro-Europeans need to organise themselves to defeat "silly" arguments for leaving the union.
Prime Minister David Cameron has said he will look to change the terms of the UK's membership of the union before offering the public a referendum on Britain's future in the EU by 2017, if he wins at the next general election.
Speaking on the Andrew Marr Show, Mr Clarke said: "We would diminish this country if we had a silly debate about Europe.
"Influence matters because a government has got to influence affairs in the greater world in order to look after the interests of its citizens. Pro-Europeans have got to organise themselves properly."
