Cameron cracks party whip at Tory rebels over vote for EU referendum

TORY MPs have been ordered by David Cameron to vote against a referendum on Europe, amid growing fears among party managers of a back-bench rebellion on the issue.

Although nearly 60 Tory MPs have signed a motion backing a referendum on European Union membership ahead of a key Commons vote on Monday, Downing Street says it expects them to oppose the move.

A spokesman for the Prime Minister warned potential rebels in the Tory ranks that “we expect government MPs to support the government position”. The stark warning came after Mr Cameron brought forward the Europe vote, which will now be held on Monday, instead of Thursday.

Rebels will now have less time to persuade colleagues to defy an expected government three-line whip in the Commons vote.

The Tories’ coalition partners, the Liberal Democrats, are also set to order their MPs to vote against the referendum, and Labour leader Ed Miliband has said he would also order his MPs to oppose the idea.

But the vote on the motion by Tory MP David Nuttall has seen the deepest split in the party since the governments of John Major in the early 1990s, which were gripped by a series of backbench rebellions on proposals to hand greater powers to Europe.

Mr Nuttall’s motion calls for a referendum by May 2013 and says the public should be given a three-way choice between remaining in the EU, leaving or negotiating the terms of a looser relationship “based on trade and co-operation”.

In a sign of the increasing Tory tensions on the issue, Mr Cameron’s spokesman said Foreign Secretary William Hague – who ran a “Keep the British Pound” campaign during his time as party leader – is likely to speak for the government on Monday.

Mr Cameron’s spokesman said: “When it comes to that debate on Monday, we expect government MPs to support the government position.

“We have not set out the precise whipping arrangements, but we have a clear policy on a referendum, and that is that there should be a referendum if there is a transfer of powers from Westminster to Brussels.

“As a general principle, the Prime Minister would expect MPs to support the government’s position on an issue.”

The Commons debate will follow a statement by Mr Cameron on the weekend’s European Council meeting, in which he is expected to set out his position.

Tory MPs defying the expected three-line whip would be forced to resign from any government jobs.

However, MP Stewart Jackson said he intended to vote for the motion even if it cost him his job as a parliamentary private secretary.