PM Cameron was rescued by Labour from a humiliating defeat in the House of Commons on Europe on Tuesday night after he faced his first significant rebellion of the new Parliament by Tory eurosceptics.
Some 27 Tory rebels, supported by, among others, all 56 SNP MPs, six DUP MPs, four Labour MPs and UKIP’s Douglas Carswell, voted for an amendment, tabled by arch-eurosceptic Tory Bill Cash to the EU Referendum Bill to retain the so-called ‘purdah’ rules, which seek to restrict government activity in the 28-day run-in to elections and referendums.
Cameron was helped in securing a majority of 191, with the 288 to 97 vote on the amendment because Labour abstained, arguing there needed to be more clarity about the government’s intentions. The vote followed an earlier retreat by Cameron, who, under pressure from both Tory MPs and Labour, decided to introduce an amendment that meant the EU referendum could not take place on the same day as the Holyrood election and other polls next May.
Faced with another major rebellion on ‘purdah’ rules, the PM had Europe Minister David Lidington write to Tory MPs to offer a concession that the government would not spend public money to deliver mailshots to households in the last four weeks of the referendum campaign. Downing Street made clear that there could be even more concessions in the autumn to allay fears and reassure MPs that the government was determined to ensure there would be a fair fight.
One of the founders of the Conservatives for Britain group, Steve Baker, said there had been a ‘tremendous whipping operation’ during the day, with MPs being invited for talks with Foreign Secretary Hammond ‘for reassurances’. Ministers had warned that the normal purdah restrictions, which applied ahead of last September’s Scottish independence referendum, would be ‘unworkable’ because they would mean that important day-to-day business with the EU would grind to a halt.
The reassurances were still not enough to persuade rebellious Tories, including ex-Cabinet Ministers Liam Fox, Owen Paterson and John Redwood, from voting for Cash’s amendment. If the 27 Tory rebels had been joined by all Opposition MPs, including Labour, then Cameron’s government would have been defeated just nine weeks after the general election.
But shadow Europe minister Pat McFadden made clear Labour did not oppose the government’s wish to suspend ‘purdah’ but called for ‘more clarity’ over what it intended to do or publish during the referendum period.
