Freedom for ministers to campaign either side of EU vote

Ministers will be allowed to campaign for either side of the EU referendum, the Prime Minister was set to announce on Tuesday.

It's understood David Cameron will allow his ministers to advocate for either the in or out campaigns, once he reaches a deal with European leaders on the UK's future relationship with the union.

BBC 5 Live reported the announcement would come later on Tuesday.

David Cameron had been meeting with European heads of state and government in recent months, in a bid to renegotiate the UK's place in the EU - including being exempt from the concept of ever-closer union, and the ability to temporarily curb internal migration in times of crisis.

However, his critics have argued that he has clearly failed on a promise to limit benefits allowed to European migrants.

The news comes hot on the heels of a Deloitte survey, which suggested business support for the UK remaining a part of the EU was waning.

In its fourth quarter survey of CFOs, Deloitte found 62% of chief financial officers at Britain's 350 largest companies backed remaining in the union.

That was down from 74% in its second quarter survey.

However, the number of businesses backing "Brexit" were remarkably low, with just six per cent of CFOs surveyed saying Britain should leave the EU - up from two per cent in the second quarter survey.

Four per cent of CFOs said they either didn't know, had no strong opinion or would prefer not to answer, while 28% said it was too early to say or depended on the results of Cameron's negotiations.