Eustice: If the government won’t back my amendment, I’ll vote for the EU referendum motion

George Eustice’s comments just now that if the government doesn’t support his amendment  to the EU referendum motion, then he’s “minded” to vote for the original motion is a sign of how Downing Street is losing the parliamentary party on this issue at an alarming rate. Eustice having been press secretary to David Cameron is not an instinctive rebel nor can he be being accused of motivated by personal animus.
 
Equally telling is Eustice’s saying that he’s being pushed towards supporting the motion because “the government’s not going to deal with the party in a responsible way on this”. This is a sign of just how fed up normally supportive MPs are with Number 10’s handling of this whole issue.
 
This episode should make Cameron think hard about his whole approach to party management. It needs to change — and fast — if there aren’t to be even bigger rebellions later in the parliament.