PM accused of strong-arming MPs in latest Euro stitch-up
‘Free vote doesn’t mean a free pass’
THE Tory ceasefire on Europe was crumbling yesterday as MPs attacked the Prime Minister for trying to strong-arm them into the referendum ‘In’ campaign and being too feeble in his EU renegotiation demands.
They accused No 10 of pressuring MPs to join the pro-EU Conservatives for Reform in Europe group, led by ex-minister Nick Herbert.
Eurosceptics believe it is a ‘front organisation’ for No 10 and say MPs have been sent letters or received phone calls asking them to sign up, despite Mr Cameron insisting the referendum will be a free vote.
The group has also set up a shadow ‘whips’ operation to count the number of Tory MPs who have agreed to back the Prime Minister.
Significantly, Mr Cameron sent his own parliamentary aide, Gavin Williamson, to the group’s first meet ing last Wednesday. One MP said it had been made clear to them that a ‘free vote doesn’t mean a free pass’.
Mr Cameron will visit Brussels next month to try to finalise renegotiations on Britain’s relationship with the EU before putting the deal to the country in a referendum.
More than 40 backbenchers have criticised him for refusing to meet them to discuss firmer proposals on immigration and restoring sovereignty. And ex-Cabinet minister Liam Fox said he had not given up his medical career to watch a Tory Prime Minister hawking a ‘begging bowl’ around Europe for minor changes on welfare.
It follows revelations last week that the campaign to remain in the EU was using the Tories’ official print firm.
Party associations have also been told that if they wish to have an ‘Out’ speaker, they must also put a pro-Brussels enthusiast on the bill.
An insider in the leave campaign said: ‘The whiff of a stitch-up grows stronger’.
Senior backbencher John Baron revealed yesterday that the Prime Minister had declined to hold talks with 40 Tory MPs who requested a meeting to discuss the lack of ambition in his demands to the EU. He said the refusal signals No 10 has no intention to pitch for a ‘fundamental change’ in Britain’s relationship with the EU.
The divisions in the Tory party were laid bare by a spat between Mr Herbert and Bernard Jenkin on the merits of an ‘emergency brake’ on immigration.
The plan is being suggested by Brussels as an alternative to Cameron’s proposal to ban EU migrants from getting inwork benefits for the first four years they are in the UK.
It would allow for a temporary limit on free movement rules if the economy or benefits system became overwhelmed, but only if Brussels consented.
Mr Jenkin told Radio 4: ‘We are so obviously in a panic period now trying to dress up the outcome of this renegotiation as something when it is likely to be virtually nothing.’ But Mr Herbert, who led the campaign to keep Britain out of the euro 15 years ago, insisted the idea of a brake was ‘worth looking at’.
The row came as Government insiders trumpeted claims that George Osborne has secured a separate ‘handbrake’ to block EU legislation that could harm the UK economy. Sources said it would mean that with support of a non-eurozone country such as Poland, Britain could win crucial votes.