PM Cameron, still seeking UKIP support, said yesterday that he will fall on his sword and refuse to lead a government that refuses to deliver a referendum on the UK’s EU membership.
UKIP leader Farage responded that without UKIP holding the PM’s ‘feet to the fire’, he feared any referendum would not be ‘fair’.
Miliband also offered himself up for hari-kari saying that he would not seek re-election if he failed to cut university tuition fees in England.
LibDem leader Nick Clegg, meanwhile, said that his party would insist on a public sector pay rise as a condition of any coalition deal.
In an interview with BBC political editor Nick Robinson, Cameron said he would not bargain away his commitment in any coalition negotiations after election day on Thursday.
He said: ‘People would worry that, were we to fall short of an overall majority – and I don’t believe we will – but were we to, this is something that could be bargained away and I want to be absolutely clear with people that that will not happen.
‘I will not lead a government that doesn’t have that referendum in law and carried out.’
Earlier, Farage, whose party campaigns for the UK’s exit from the European Union, had said that Cameron had broken his promise to hold a referendum before, and only decided to promise one when he saw ‘UKIP spreading like a purple rash across the country’.
He added for good measure: ‘If he held that referendum on his own, without UKIP holding his feet to the fire, I am not confident that it would be a full, free and fair referendum.’
The UKIP leader said an EU referendum was ‘absolutely’ a red line for his party – and he would be ready to vote down a Conservative Queen’s Speech, if it was not brought forward to this year.
Miliband compared his position to the LibDem leader Clegg, who apologised for breaking a promise to oppose an increase in university fees.
‘I won’t break my word as Nick Clegg did. If I had done what he did five years ago, I don’t think I could ask you for your trust again. I will cut tuition fees from £9,000 to £6,000.
‘And I tell you this, if I fail in this task, I won’t be standing here again in 2020 making more promises. I won’t be standing for the office of prime minister at all. Because there should be consequences when people’s trust is let down.’
The Labour leader also appeared to rule out giving Scotland a second referendum on independence, during a visit to Worcester, telling reporters: ‘Yes, I’m not going to have another referendum on this.’
