Cabinet split over Europe ‘censorship’
DAVID CAMERON is facing a fresh Cabinet revolt amid warnings that Downing Street is censoring Eurosceptic ministers in order to keep Britain in the EU.
Senior officials have taken the extraordinary step of seeking to vet – and in some cases alter – speeches by ministers in Parliament to tone down their Eurosceptic comments, The Sunday
Telegraph can reveal. At the same time, pro-European ministers are being encouraged to make their cases for why Britain should vote to stay in the EU in the forthcoming referendum. Right-wing Tories are furious at what they see as Number 10’s coordinated attempt to rig the debate by “gagging” Eurosceptic colleagues.
The Prime Minister continues to claim in public that he does not rule out recommending Britain vote to leave the EU if he cannot get a good enough package of changes to the terms of membership.
But the censorship row will fuel suspicions that Mr Cameron and the Chancellor, George Osborne, have already
‘Double standards are operating here. Ministers are being allowed to make their case now to stay in’
made up their minds to campaign to keep Britain in Europe and are using the Whitehall machine to promote an “in” vote in the referendum.
The Prime Minister conceded last week that he would have to suspend the long-standing convention of “collective government responsibility” to allow ministers to campaign on both sides of the referendum debate.
Giving ministers the freedom to take a different view from his own was the only way for Mr Cameron to avoid damaging resignations from his Cabinet, which is split over Europe.
After talks with two Cabinet Eurosceptics – Chris Grayling, the Leader of the Commons, and Theresa Villiers, the Northern Ireland Secretary – Mr Cameron announced that he would allow ministers to campaign in favour of leaving the EU once he had finished his negotiations in Brussels.
The move was seen as a major concession and a victory for the “out” campaign. However, there are growing fears among sceptics that the promise of freedom to speak out when the formal campaign begins is being used to keep them silent now.
Until the Prime Minister’s “renegotiation” is completed, ministers have
been banned from campaigning to leave the EU or making any statements that could be seen to undermine Mr Cameron’s efforts.
But there is no “level playing field”, with pro-EU ministers allowed to speak freely, one senior Eurosceptic minister said.
“The effect of the intervention from Chris Grayling and Theresa Villiers and the Prime Minister’s statement has been to really lift the mood of the party,” the minister said.
“It would be tragic if mishandling of Cabinet ministers who want to stay in the EU was to undermine that and create a sense of resentment.”
Even supporters of EU membership expressed concerns at the developments, with pro-Europeans warning censorship tactics could backfire.
Cabinet sources said officials in Number 10 and the Cabinet Office, which serves as the Government’s central headquarters, had demanded the final say over statements and answers given to MPs in the Commons.
On one recent occasion, a draft of an answer that was due to have been read in Parliament was extensively rewritten by Mr Cameron’s officials.
Eurosceptic phrases were deleted and the draft was sent back to the minister with “a more positive tone about Europe”, one Cabinet minister said.
“The Cabinet Office and Number 10 are putting pressure on ministers not to sound Eurosceptic,” the minister said. “The danger is the public will see the government machine as promoting the status quo. We need to be careful.”
Mr Cameron’s aides have also ordered advisers working with ministers to draft pro-European announcements and speeches to ensure that senior politicians make a positive case for EU membership in public.
A source close to a Cabinet minister said: “There are clearly double standards operating here. The PM said collective responsibility must apply until he has done his deal. But Cabinet ministers are being allowed to make the case now for staying in the EU. If Eurosceptics went on the TV or radio and argued the opposite, there would be outrage in Number 10.”
Mr Cameron has promised to secure a better deal for Britain before an in/out referendum by the end of next year. He wants reforms to immigration and welfare rules, competitiveness, sovereignty and fairness with countries outside the single currency.
A Downing Street source insisted no instructions had been issued to stop ministers making anti-EU comments, saying: “Clearly, a number of ministers have long-standing, deeply held and well known views on Europe. The PM has been clear that on this specific issue, for these individuals, collective responsibility will be lifted and they will be free to take a different view from the Government, as individuals.”