UK should have 'one last go' at reshaping EU ties, says PM Cameron

[October 16, 2014]  ROCHESTER Kent (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Thursday his planned attempt to reshape ties with the European Union should be the "last" renegotiation with the bloc.

He told a public meeting in Kent, southeast England he was not happy with Britain's current relationship with Europe.

"We should have one last go at negotiating a better deal," said Cameron who has promised to try to reshape Britain's EU ties and then hold a referendum on Britain's EU membership in 2017 if he wins a national election next year.

Cameron was in the town of Rochester campaigning ahead of a by-election next month in which his ruling Conservative party faces a major challenge from the anti-EU United Kingdom Independence (UKIP) party.

Its candidate, Mark Reckless, is the second of two Conservative Members of Parliament (MPs) to have defected since August to UKIP. The other one, Douglas Carswell became UKIP's first elected MP in a by-election earlier this month.

Polls suggest the Conservatives and UKIP, under leader Nigel Farage, running neck and neck in Rochester.

(Reporting by Andrew Osborn; editing by Stephen Addison)

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