LONDON: British Prime Minister David Cameron bowed to pressure from his restive Conservative party yesterday and published a bill to hold a referendum on membership of the European Union.
The move was designed to head off growing turmoil in the party the day before many Conservative MPs were expected to vote for a parliamentary motion condemning the coalition government’s European policy.
It also came just hours after US President Barack Obama publicly backed Cameron’s plan to renegotiate Britain’s terms of membership with Brussels and put them to an in-out referendum by the end of 2017. The Conservatives’ draft bill would enshrine into law Cameron’s commitment to the referendum plan, which is contingent on the party winning re-election in 2015.
But it is a highly unusual move because it has been published by the party, not the government, and will rely on an individual Tory MP guiding it through parliament as a private members’ bill.
Foreign Secretary William Hague acknowledged the bill had almost no chance of becoming law, but said there could be no government legislation because of opposition from the Tories’ junior coalition partners, the pro-European Liberal Democrats.
“But it means there can be a debate in the House of Commons on our policy, it means there can be a vote in the House of Commons,” he told BBC radio.
“When all the dust settles on the speculation about this, one thing will be very clear... the Conservative Party is very much behind and committed to this policy.”
Cameron has been under intense pressure over Europe in recent months, fuelled by the growth of the upstart UK Independence Party (UKIP) which is poaching Tory voters with its demands to pull Britain out of the EU.
The prime minister wants to try to reform the 27-nation bloc before holding an in-out referendum, in which he plans to vote to stay in, and has accused those urging an exit now of “throwing in the towel”. AFP
