LONDON (AA) – After months of speculation, Conservative Mayor of London Boris Johnson has revealed that he will be advocating for Britain to leave EU.

In an announcement on Sunday, Johnson said it took a “huge amount of heartache” to reach that decision.

“I have decided after huge amount of heartache, last thing I wanted to go against David Cameron or Government, I will be advocating vote leave because I want a better deal for the people of this country, save the money and to take back control,” he told reporters outside his home in London.

The mayor said Prime Minister Cameron had done “fantastically well” in the negotiations with EU leaders in Brussels, adding: “But I don’t think anybody could realistically claim this is fundamental reform of the EU or of Britain’s relationship with the EU.”

Britain’s referendum on its EU membership will be held on June 23, Cameron announced Saturday at the end of a renegotiation which lasted nine months.

The announcement came barely 12 hours after Cameron struck a deal with other EU leaders in Brussels to renegotiate Britain’s membership.

The agreement ensures the EU treaties will be amended to explicitly state that Europe’s pledge for ever-closer political union does not apply to Britain.

It also established that welfare benefits will be paid to EU migrants at the rate of their home country, irrespective of which member state they are living in, from 2020.

Author Büşra Akın Dinçer

[Photo: Mayor of London Boris Johnson Photograph: Creative Commons]