CLOSE TO 80 Conservative MPs defied British prime minister David Cameron who ordered them not to back a House of Commons motion calling for a referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union.
The rebels included two parliamentary private secretaries, including Northern Ireland Secretary of State Owen Paterson’s Commons aide, Stewart Jackson, who said he was putting principle ahead of “the baubles of office”.
The motion from Conservative MP David Nuttall called for legislation next Spring to enable the holding of a referendum on whether the UK should remain a member of the EU; leave it; or have its membership renegotiated.
The vote was defeated by 483-111 votes. However, it is the largest rebellion that a prime minister of any generation has had to face on the EU. In the 1990s John Major saw 41 of his MPs fall aside during the Maastricht Treaty debate.
Mr Cameron imposed a three-line whip, opening a breach once more among Tories over the EU. He said a vote on such an important issue could not be “hidden away” and left “to go unnoticed”.
Meanwhile, an ITV/Comres poll last night showed that 54 per cent of British people would support a withdrawal from the EU if new membership terms could not be negotiated, although just 37 per cent opted for a full withdrawal as a first option.
In an appeal to wavering Conservatives who favour change in membership terms, but who do not want to leave the EU, Mr Cameron said: “We disagree not about ends, but about means. I support your aims. Like you, I want to see fundamental reform. Like you, I want to refashion our membership of the EU so that it better serves this nation’s interests. The time for reform is coming.”
The rebels appear divided on when a referendum should be held, with some saying next year but others wanting the threat of one to be used to force the return of powers from Brussels. This would lead to “a trade plus” relationship with other EU states.
Illustrating the differences among Tory MPs over tactics, if not strategy, MP Nick Boles said the motion “lacked good sense”. The UK would “get one opportunity over the next 40 years to renegotiate membership and we must use it well”, he added.
Foreign secretary William Hague said a three-question referendum made it highly unlikely that any one of the options would get 50 per cent support. “I believe any future referendum should not be based on a multiple choice basis,” he said.
A referendum now would not “be a responsible action”, he said. The timing is wrong because of the euro zone crisis and because uncertainty over the UK’s relationship with the EU would not help its own economic chances.
Labour leader Ed Miliband ordered his MPs to oppose the motion yesterday, as did Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg. However, Austin Mitchell was one of a number of Labour MPs who rebelled. He said: “I don’t want to be a party to a three-party conspiracy against the people.”
Curiously, some Conservative MPs argued that a vote to quit the EU would strengthen its ability to negotiate better terms, though Jacob Rees-Mogg said the issue could be dealt with in two separate referendums.
Mr Cameron has promised a referendum to approve, or reject, any new treaty that ceded powers from Westminster, though this is such an unlikely possibility that it implicitly means he has no intention of putting the issue before voters.
