Britain in "one of the great reforming decades": British PM

British Prime Minister David Cameron on Friday delivered his New Year message for 2016, saying his country is in "one of the great reforming decades in our history".

In his message, he outlined his plan for the government in 2016, setting out his priorities, including low home ownership, poverty, poor social mobility and extremism.

"For me, there are no new year's resolutions, just the resolve to continue delivering what we promised in our manifesto," the prime minister said.

"If we really get to grips with these problems this year, we won't just be a richer nation, but a stronger, more unified, more secure one," he noted.

"It won't be easy. These problems have been generations in the making. And many of them are tangled together," he added.

In an article published by Downing Street, Cameron said: "I genuinely believe we are in the middle of one of the great reforming decades in our history - what I would call a 'turnaround decade', where we can use the platform of our renewed economic strength to go for real social renewal."

The prime minister also said he wanted to tackle the extremism and hatred which led some Britons to "turn against their country."

"When our national security is threatened by a seething hatred of the West, one that turns people against their country and can even turn them into murderous extremists, I want us to be very clear: you will not defeat us," he said.

Cameron has promised to hold an "in or out" referendum on British membership in the EU by 2017.

He said he was fighting hard to negotiate a better deal for Britain's membership of the EU.

"In the end, you will decide whether we are stronger and better off with our European neighbors as part of the European Union, or on our own," he said. Endit