NEWLY elected Bolton MP Chris Green says he is not afraid to speak his mind on the issue of membership of the European Union.

Prime Minister David Cameron is aiming to renegotiate the UK’s terms of membership with the EU ahead of a referendum in 2017 and wants party members to back him in pushing to remain part of the union.

This week the Prime Minister had to deny suggesting that government ministers will be forced to back his plan or quit their jobs, after stating that everyone in the government had signed up to his vision.

Mr Green, who replaced Julie Hilling as MP for Bolton West in May, said that as a Conservative backbencher he has the “freedom” to speak out on key issues that he feels passionately about — such as Europe.

As a Eurosceptic, the new MP has previously said he would leave the EU if there was a vote tomorrow, but added that he will look carefully at whatever terms the prime minister will present after his negotiations.

He said: “I would say I am passionately pro-British rather than anti-European Union.

“But I think we need to look at what is in the interests of the British people and I will look at what is on the table and decide whether or not those renegotiated terms are something I support or not.

“The conversation recently has been about what ministers as part of a government are allowed to do, but as a back-bench MP I have the freedom to speak out. We reflect the interests of our constituency and I think a minister should speak out about an issue they believe in just as much as a back-bencher.

“The critical issue is that when there has been transfers of powers, it’s for the British people to endorse or reject those powers — ultimately it is about democracy.”

He added: “This is a fundamentally important issue and we should all speak out about what we want.”

Mr Cameron said he remains confident of negotiating the changes he wants so he can press for a Yes vote to remain part of the European Union ahead of the 2017 vote.