Sir John Major set to warn of split between UK and European Union
Former prime minister Sir John Major is due to speak later in GermanyThe case for leaving the European Union will be fuelled further if EU countries do not help the UK limit immigration, Sir John Major will say later.
The former prime minister will warn the EU is "sleepwalking into antagonisms it cannot repair", in a speech in Germany.
He will say the UK and the EU are "close to a breach that's not in our interests or theirs".
BBC political editor Nick Robinson said the ex-PM will warn that a "divorce" between the UK and EU would be "final".
In a speech to supporters of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats in Berlin, the former prime minister is expected to say that UK concerns about freedom of movement are misunderstood.
People in Britain are not opposed to the principle of free movement, he will say, but the number of people coming to the UK cannot be absorbed at the current speed.
'A deal with Britain'"When he was in No 10 Sir John successfully negotiated an opt-out for Britain from joining the Euro," the BBC's Nick Robinson said.
"In what sounds like advice to his successor, David Cameron, he is expected to say that it is now 'time to tone down the oratory and turn up the diplomacy'.
"Sir John, who remains a passionate believer in Britain's membership of Europe, now sees it as his job to convince the rest of the EU to do a deal with Britain and to convince his own country not to leave."
Sir John Major has backed David Cameron's bid to reclaim powers from the EUMr Cameron has pledged to renegotiate the UK's membership of the EU and to hold a referendum on whether to remain a member by 2017.
Earlier this week, the prime minister rejected claims an EU referendum would damage the UK economy and criticised those who argue the UK should stay in the EU "come what may".
He has also said he will set out by Christmas further plans to curb the rights of EU migrants to work in the UK.
It comes after Sir John - who was prime minister from 1990 until 1997 - earlier this year said he believed Mr Cameron would succeed in reclaiming powers from Brussels before holding a referendum.
But he also warned that an exit from the EU would leave the UK isolated.
Rows over Europe dogged Sir John's Conservative government, which faced a confidence vote in the House of Commons in 1993 over its decision to sign the Maastricht Treaty.
