David Cameron expected to give eurosceptics their free EU vote - after letting them put up a fight

Will David Cameron allow senior ministers to take whatever side they wish in the EU referendum? There are reportedly six Cabinet Ministers pushing for a free vote on the matter, and today Liam Fox added his voice to the calls, telling the Daily Politics that even if the Prime Minister refused an official suspension of collective responsibility, ministers would find other ways of making their views heard. He said:

‘Ultimately the legitimacy of the result will depend on whether the voters think they have heard all the arguments openly and fairly and I think any attempt by any side to restrict people’s voice in that debate will limit how people feel the legitimacy of the referendum has gone and I think that’s really important.

‘And I think that in any case, people will find a way to make their voices heard, and the idea that you can gag people during a process like the referendum given the multiple ways that we’ve just been discussing about getting information out is unrealistic.’