Cameron starts playing catch-up over the EU referendum vote

Adjust your calendars, CoffeeHousers. The parliamentary vote on an EU referendum is no longer set for next Thursday. As the Mail’s James Chapman revealed this evening, Downing Street has moved it forward to Monday so that David Cameron and William Hague can both attend. They would have been away on government business otherwise.

What to make of this hasty measure? I suppose it could feasibly be seen as a scare tactic on the part of No.10: strengthening the current three line whip by making it very clear that Dave Is Watching You. But it’s far more likely that Cameron is appearing in order to set out the sorts of concessions that James mentioned earlier. There are, after all, almost 50 Tory backbenchers signed up to the original motion — 50 potential rebels. The Tory leadership will want to avoid provoking such a significant portion of the parliamentary party.

So expect Cameron to use the intervening days to craft a position on Europe that will sway his backbenchers; a position that speaks of repatriating powers, and perhaps of a potential referendum in the next parliament, given certain conditions.