British Prime Minister David Cameron is prepared to drop a demand to curb welfare benefits for migrant workers as he attempts to renegotiate the terms of Britain's membership of the European Union, two British newspapers say.
The demand that European migrant workers wait four years before claiming state benefits has so far been presented as a central plank of the new deal Cameron is seeking to clinch ahead of a referendum on whether to stay in the bloc or leave.
Seen as a way to reduce Britain's attractiveness to migrants from poorer EU members in eastern Europe, a major domestic political issue in Britain, the welfare demand has been one of the biggest stumbling blocks in the renegotiation process.
Citing government sources, the Telegraph and Independent newspapers reported that Cameron would tell fellow EU leaders in Brussels on Thursday that he was prepared to drop the plan if they agreed on alternative measures to help reduce immigration.
A spokeswoman for Cameron's Downing Street office said she had no immediate comment and was looking into the reports.
Dropping the demand, which has received extensive coverage in the British media, would be seen as an embarrassing climbdown and would likely antagonise the large and vocal eurosceptic wing of Cameron's Conservative Party.
Cameron has promised to hold a referendum on whether Britain should remain in the EU or exit the bloc by the end of 2017, although it could take place much earlier than that. He has said his preference would be to remain in a reformed EU.
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