David Cameron has admitted previously that he needs to secure treaty change before he can come to the British people and advise them to stay in the European Union.

In January he said that “proper full on treaty change” was needed.

Just last month his spokesman said treaty change was a prerequisite for renegotiation:

“He wants treaty change. All the advice that he has had is that treaty change is required, for example in terms of some of the changes that we want to see in welfare.”

How’s that going?

PM wants "irreversible lock" & "legally binding guarantees" in renegotiation with EU. Same as promise of "proper full on treaty change"?

— Nick Robinson (@bbcnickrobinson) June 25, 2015

In the space of a few weeks the PM’s position has gone from requiring treaty change to a vague commitment to some possible treaty change at an unspecified time in the future. And this is just the first hurdle…