Quitting EU would be a ‘GIFT’ for Vladimir Putin, desperate pro-Brussels campaigners claim

BRITAIN quitting the EU in next month's referendum will be a "gift" for Vladimir Putin, a top Labour politician will claim today.

Dan Jarvis will crank up the pro-Brussels camp's scare-mongering campaign by saying the Russian president would welcome Brexit.

Speaking at an event in London, Jarvis will say Great Britain will become "little Britain" if voters chose to leave the EU.

The Barnsley Central MP and ex-army major believes the bloc provides Britain with "security and global influence".

He will say: "Britain leaving the EU would undermine vital efforts for peace and stability.

"What sort of message would we send out to the rest of the world, and to our enemies, if we walked away?

"It would be a gift to Putin, weakening both Nato and the EU."

Jarvis will add: "We [would] face a period of prolonged uncertainty and permanent retrenchment by walking away.

"For the Leave campaign to assert that both everything will change, but nothing will change is not simply a contradiction.

"It fails in our collective duty to serve the national interest. This matters because it is a decision from which there is no going back."

Last month a Conservative minister suggested Putin is less likely to "harm" Britain if we vote to leave the EU on June 23.

Penny Mordaunt, the Armed Forces minister, told Newsnight: "The trajectory [the EU] is on good news for those who wish us harm.

"We have a growing migrant crisis and all the threats that come with that. The EU is the authority without any responsibility."