So after a few hours of outrage in the Tory party, David Cameron’s aides have announced that he didn’t say ministers would have to support his stance during the EU referendum or leave government. Number 10 has clarified the Prime Minister’s remarks, saying they only apply to ministers’ stances during the renegotiation, not the period of campaigning leading up to the referendum. The Prime Minister’s official spokeswoman said:
‘The PM was clearly talking yesterday about the position on collective responsibility during the renegotiation, a position that the PM has set out previously, including in the House during the Queen’s Speech debate, a position that, I think, has been over-interpreted by a number of outlets this morning who have wrongly suggested that the PM was talking about the approach during the referendum.’
The spokeswoman also said that Cameron had not taken a decision on what would happen during the referendum.
This may be to soothe the frustration of those in the party who thought they were being shut out by the no free vote decision. But a more important consideration is that other European leaders could have read the remarks as Cameron saying he wants to stay in at all costs.
However, it is worth mulling why the Prime Minister said what he said in the first place. The journalists present at the press conference in Bavaria insist that they made clear that they were asking about ministerial campaigns during the referendum, not during the renegotiation. Indeed, here is the transcript:
Question: Can I just check, on the EU referendum, have you absolutely closed your mind to allowing ministers a free vote? That’s a no-no? Prime Minister: I’ve been very clear, which is I’ve said that if you want to be part of the government, you have to take the view that we are engaged in an exercise of renegotiation to have a referendum, and that will lead to a successful outcome. Question: So anyone in government who opposes that will have to resign? Prime Minister: Everyone in government has signed up to the programme set out in the Conservative manifesto. Thank you. See you later. Enjoy the mountain.
It seems that the Prime Minister wanted to say here that you cannot oppose the principle of renegotiation as set out in the manifesto, even though the journalists were clearly asking about the referendum. But he and those briefing around the summit could have been clearer. In any case, we are back to where we were, which is that we do not know, but suspect, that there will be a suspension of collective responsibility in the referendum. But it would surely be wiser for Cameron to announce that once he knows what he’s getting from the renegotiation.
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