LONDON: Lord Stuart Rose, former chief executive of Marks and Spencer, is to lead a cross-party campaign for the UK to stay in the European Union.
The Conservative peer, now chairman of the In Campaign, said the UK was “stronger in Europe” and to leave the EU would be a “leap into the unknown”.
It comes after a group of Conservative, Labour and UKIP MPs launched a campaign to take the UK out of the EU on Friday.
David Cameron has promised a referendum on the issue by the end of 2017.
The prime minister held talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at Chequers on Friday, in which he stressed he wanted to “secure reforms and then keep the United Kingdom in a reformed EU”.
A Downing Street spokesman said Mr Cameron had noted the talks were “progressing well” but there was still “much to be worked through in order to find a solution”.
Lord Rose’s appointment comes as a review of the “costs and benefits” of the UK’s membership of the EU, to be conducted by the Treasury Select Committee, was announced.
