Eu referendum

MPs are storming their way through the Queen’s Speech debate this afternoon, with a vote on that troublesome EU referendum bill amendment expected around 7pm. But for all their talk in the past few days, those in the pro-amendment camp are noticing a fading away in support. One source tells me: ‘Given all the whips’ pressure, 60 would be good.’ When I pointed out that the whips were supposed to be incredibly relaxed about the whole thing, the source gave a hollow laugh. This is odd, as Downing Street is briefing that this is a free vote and that anyone who supports it isn’t a rebel. But Sky’s Jon Craig

The last few days have seen the Tory party losing its collective head. Number 10 hopes that the publication of a draft referendum bill will begin to restore order. If this bill had been published by the leadership a week ago, it would have looked like a bold move. Today, it appeared panicky. But it is now out there, and any Tory backbencher who comes high up in the private members bill ballot on Thursday has a chance of guiding it through. I suspect if a vote could be won on second reading, the parliamentary dynamics of this debate would change yet again. What’ll be intriguing is to see how

David Cameron was trying to work out how on earth to deal with the latest Europe row in his party. He heard them demanding legislation in this parliament for a referendum in the next, and this evening, after nearly a year of letter-writing and speeches, he announced that the Tory party will publish a draft bill doing just that. They still can’t get it through Parliament through the government channels, so they’ll be putting it up for any willing backbencher (of which there are many) to adopt in the Private Member’s Bill ballot. Figures close to the Prime Minister were hinting to Tory MPs this evening there would be a

If the Tory leadership had hoped that a few weeks of reconciliation between David Cameron and his backbenchers would lead to a new, serene phase in party management, they couldn’t be more wrong. Things seem to be getting worse on Europe: today two Cabinet ministers have felt emboldened by the Queen’s Speech vote this week to say that on the current terms of Britain’s membership of the EU, they would leave. James covered Michael Gove’s comments this morning, and this evening Defence Secretary Philip Hammond joined in, telling John Pienaar that Britain needed a better settlement in order to stay in the EU. This is a transcript of the exchange

As expected, the backbench Tory campaign for an EU referendum bill started as soon as the Queen’s Speech proved not to contain one. The first battle is over an amendment expressing regret which John Baron, who is leading the charge on this, has tabled. The amendment, to the motion welcoming the Queen’s Speech, simply reads: ‘Respectfully regrets that an EU referendum bill was not included in the gracious speech.’ This means that all Tory MPs who want a referendum, but in a different form, such as the mandate referendum that Bernard Jenkin and others have pushed for, can still sign the amendment. Baron tells me that he hasn’t decided whether

I’ve just come from a briefing with a European Union official. He was asked whether Lord Lawson’s call for Britain to leave the EU was a ‘dinosaur argument.’ In response, the official paused. He smiled in an indulgent way. He tilted his head: ‘Mrs Thatcher’s finance minister, who is the father of such a good cookbook author – .’ Another pause, another smile, a gaze at the ceiling for a moment, then: ‘Of course it’s not a dinosaur argument, because it very much reflects debates in certain segments of British politics and as such is something we are constantly confronted with.’ Another pause. Perhaps that word ‘confronted’ was a bit too direct

It’s at times like this I’m glad I’m not a Europhile. I imagine that Lord Lawson’s article in today’s Times is causing Brussels-lovers up and down the land a number of headaches this afternoon, not least because it is incredibly detailed and hard to find fault with: The EU’s desire for ‘ever-closer union’ is undiminished? Accurate. British businesses are being hindered by the EU’s daft regulations? Very true. We need to start looking beyond Europe for growth opportunities? Another tick. From a purely economic perspective, Lord Lawson’s argument is spot on. However, there is a political problem with Lawson’s article which I can’t seem to get my head around –

John Baron and  Conservative backbench colleagues have been out and about insisting that today’s results underline the need for legislation in this parliament for a referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU after 2015. But Tories and Lib Dems in Number 10 were clear yesterday that this can’t come as a government bill because of the realities of Coalition. But there will be a bill that comes forward. And it looks like it will cause its own almighty row. Those around the Prime Minister have been dropping pretty hefty hints to Tory MPs that though there won’t be a government-sponsored bill, if there is ‘any other way’ of bringing legislation

Some Tories are all aquiver today after the Prime Minister’s radio hint yesterday that he might be prepared to introduce an EU referendum bill in this parliament after all. Here are David Cameron’s words on yesterday’s World at One that are supposed to set your heart pounding: ‘I think we need to demonstrate absolutely that we are serious about this referendum; we’ve said we’re going to hold it, we’ve said it’s going to be an in-out referendum, we’ve set a date by which it must be held. I look forward to publishing a bill, to getting support for it, to doing everything I can to show to people at the

How do the Tories deal with UKIP? The party likes to split on most issues, and it has got a nice little fault line running across it at the moment on whether to squash the party as ‘fruitcakes’, or, as Conor Burns eloquently argued on Coffee House this morning, engage with the problems and anxieties that are driving Tory voters towards Nigel Farage. If UKIP does have a good showing in the local elections later this week, one side will blame the other for taking the wrong course. MPs like Burns will worry that colleagues such as Ken Clarke will have insulted their own voters, or that the party’s obsession