... but he didn’t allow poll over Maastricht

JOHN Major’s call for MPs to be given a free vote on Brexit is the exact opposite of his policy on big votes on Europe when he was in government.

The former Prime Minister fought nightly battles with his MPs during the passage of the Maastricht Treaty legislation in 1992 and 1993.

The treaty, which paved the way for the creation of the euro, was bitterly opposed by many Tory MPs, but Sir John refused calls to hold a referendum or to allow his MPs a free vote.

As tensions mounted, he was even caught calling some Eurosceptic members of his Cabinet ‘bastards’. Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith said: ‘Conservative MPs had the whip withdrawn and were shut out of the party if they voted against the Government. At the same time, MPs were being dragged in from their hospital beds to vote with the Government. If he has had a conversion on the idea of free votes, then it is a conversion on the road to Brussels.’

Jacob Rees-Mogg said Sir John had rammed the Maastricht Treaty through Parliament.

He added: ‘For that PM to say “oh, it should be a free vote”, is either forgetting how he behaved himself, ignoring how he voted himself or just straightforward hypocrisy.’