DAVID Cameron blew his EU renegotiation by rushing a deal, his own EU advisor has declared.

Former senior No10 aide Mats Persson has broken ranks with his old boss to issue the damning criticism.

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The former PM could have rung better terms out of other European leaders – and won the referendum to keep the UK a member - if he dragged out talks, he said.

Mr Persson told Radio 4’s Today Programme: “It was a deal that was far from meaningless, but could we have got more? Maybe.

“I think played differently, over a longer period of time, we could have achieved more reforms, yes.”

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The outburst was also seen as a dig at former EU ambassador Sir Ivan Rogers, who was privately advising Mr Cameron to limit his EU demands.

The former Tory leader’s renegotiation lasted only eight months, from June 2015 to February last year.

At the time, cabinet ministers were urging him to play the long game, saying the 2015 migration crisis would force politicians to reshape Europe’s borders.

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But Mr Cameron was widely slammed by Tory MPs for asking for too little on immigration curbs after a warning from German leader Angela Merkel.

Conservative backbencher Jacob Rees-Mogg branded the deal’s final terms as “thin gruel”.

Mr Cameron’s failure to begin an EU withdrawal plan while holding the landmark referendum was also branded "criminal" by a senior Labour MP today.

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The ex-PM ordered civil servants to make no preparations for if he lost the nationwide vote over fears it would weaken his argument to stay in.

Ex frontbencher Chuka Umunna said: “Holding this referendum without any plan as to what you would do if we voted to leave was criminal, in my view.

"Well, I'm being rhetorical, it's clearly not illegal, but it was a silly thing to do, and now what have we got?

“We are flailing about, no direction, no-one knows what's happening."