Ministers will publish amendments to the EU referendum bill later today that they hope will stave off a defeat in the House of Commons on the legislation. Tory backbenchers had been preparing to work with Labour on an amendment that would have introduced a ‘purdah’ period for the referendum, and forced the government to seek Commons approval for any exemptions from that purdah. They had expected to defeat the government, which had been trying to sneak the legislation past them on the first day back in Parliament.
Government sources say amendments will be published later today that will ‘reassure MPs’ and ‘show they are not about using the full weight of the government or spending huge amounts of money’.
I suspect though that this won’t be the only spot of bother over this legislation. Bill Cash has already highlighted another problem, which is the belief on the Tory backbenches that collective responsibility should be suspended for the referendum so that ministers can campaign to leave, and there are other plans brewing in the Eurosceptic camp.
But what this move does show is that the whips office and ministers are being as responsive as possible to prevent the fragile reality of the government’s tiny majority becoming too obvious as a result of a series of defeats.
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