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David Cameron: Brexit would please ISIS, Putin
01:05 - Source: CNN

Story highlights

Cameron won right to limit benefits of new workers for up to four years

Voters will decide June 23 whether Britain should stay in the EU or leave

During negotiations, Cameron repeatedly threatened the UK might leave the EU

CNN  — 

Well, perhaps he was just bluffing.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, who repeatedly threatened to leave the European Union if he did not get what he wanted, now says a British exit from the EU would please Russian President Vladimir Putin – and even the terrorist group ISIS.

British voters will go to the polls June 23 to decide whether to stay in the 28-nation European Union or look in from the outside and try to negotiate a separate trade deal with a bloc to which it once belonged..

‘Putin might be happy’

Speaking to business leaders Tuesday in London, Cameron claimed that ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and Putin “would be happy” if Britain voted to leave the EU.

“It is worth asking the question, who would be happy if we left?” Cameron said. ” Putin might be happy. I suspect al-Baghdadi might be happy.”

Cameron spent a year or more renegotiating Britain’s relationship with the EU. He won the right to limit the access of workers entering the UK job market to in-work benefits for four years. Examples of such benefits are tax credits for low-income earners and tax benefits given to parents.

Even though he repeatedly threatened to leave the EU during the negotiations, saying the UK could thrive outside the bloc, Cameron said last week that a British exit from the European Union would put the stability of Europe at risk.