So 130 MPs have backed the Baron/Bone amendment to the Queen’s Speech. There will be Labour and other parties in this group, but reasonable estimates suggest that 100 Tories went through the ‘aye’ lobbies. This isn’t a rebellion, because the whips have given backbenchers and PPSs a free vote, and to that extent things could have been worse because there were no aggressive resignation speeches. But it is the strongest expression of euroscepticism since the Coalition formed.
Spinners will try to argue that as this was a ‘relaxed’ free vote, 100 Tory MPs regretting the absence of a bill in the Queen’s Speech isn’t a bad thing for the leadership. This might have had more currency if the party hadn’t decided to rush out a draft bill at the last minute.
The size of this uprising also confirms that ‘Europhile’ really is a dirty word for many Tories.
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