This story broke as an exclusive in tonight’s Coffee House Evening Blend, a free round-up and analysis of the day’s political stories. Click here to subscribe.
The Conservatives will table James Wharton’s Private Member’s Bill for an EU referendum tonight for publication tomorrow. Coffee House has exclusive details of the changes to this piece of legislation, and a clever new plan by the party to make the most of this backbench bill as possible.
The bill has been amended following extensive talks between Wharton and Conservative backbenchers about its wording. It now includes a requirement for the Secretary of State to announce the date of the referendum by the end of 2016. This will mean that any reluctant future government cannot wriggle out of organising the 2017 referendum by failing to announce the date and subsuming itself in legal wrangling.
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