PRESIDENT Obama has stepped into the debate over EU membership by urging the UK not to cut its ties with a union that "made the world safer and more prosperous".

In an exclusive interview with the BBC, Mr Obama said the UK's EU membership "gives us much greater confidence about the strength of the transatlantic union".

He added that the UK was America's "best partner" on the global stage because it was willing to set aside its "immediate self-interests to make this a more orderly, safer world".

Speaking about domestic affairs, he described his frustration to clamp down on gun laws - stressing that more Americans were killed in shootings that by terrorism.

With just 18 months left in power, he said this was the policy area where he has been "most frustrated and most stymied....even in the face of repeated mass killings".

He said: "If you look at the number of Americans killed since 9/11 by terrorism, it's less than 100. If you look at the number that have been killed by gun violence, it's in the tens of thousands.

"For us not to be able to resolve that issue has been something that is distressing."