PM appears to falter on EU vote pledge

By Kiran Stacey, Political Correspondent

David Cameron has angered his own backbenchers by appearing to renege on a promise that he would hold a referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU if he was prime minister after 2015.

Speaking at a campaign event in Eastleigh ahead of a by-election in the Hampshire constituency on February 28, the prime minister told voters: “To get an EU referendum you need to vote for a Tory-only government.”

The statement contradicts his assertion last month when he told reporters after his speech on Europe: “If I’m prime minister, the referendum will happen.”

Those initial comments suggested Mr Cameron would insist on a referendum even if he was again presiding over a coalition government after 2015. Conservative MPs hoped this meant the prime minister would make the referendum a “red line” in future negotiations with the Liberal Democrats or any other prospective partner.

But his suggestion on Thursday that only a Tory majority in 2015 would guarantee a referendum threw that into doubt.

John Baron, one of the leading Tory eurosceptic backbenchers, said: “This is why I am pushing hard the idea of bringing legislation into this parliament enabling the EU in-out referendum to take place in the next [parliament].

“It would be difficult for any prime minister after the next general election to repeal a popular piece of legislation.”

Although Mr Cameron’s comments in Eastleigh were seen as a useful piece of electioneering as the tense by-election campaign enters its final week, allies confirmed the prime minister was not willing to scupper a future coalition on the referendum issue.

“You never know what might happen in coalition talks,” said one. “The only way we can be 100 per cent sure of getting a referendum is with a Tory majority.” Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2013.