Government could still face defeat on EU purdah row

Will ministers really avoid a defeat on the question of purdah in the EU referendum bill on Monday? They hope that amendments, tabled today (and attached in full here in advance of their publication tomorrow), will stop Conservative MPs flocking to Labour’s new clause that it has tabled to add to the Bill.

But Labour sources tell me that they’re still considering voting against the amendment which brings back purdah but with a substantially narrowed scope. And given it only takes a handful of grumpy eurosceptics to vote against to make a defeat, the whips can’t breathe a sigh of relief just yet.

Some eurosceptics I’ve spoken to think this is still all a bit last minute, given the government only survived the first vote on this matter because Labour abstained – and that vote was in June.

So why has it taken so long for ministers to amend the bill, and why is the government trying to keep purdah as limited as possible? Well, sources involved in drawing up the legislation and amendments claim David Cameron is very keen for his special advisers to be allowed to work on the referendum campaign – and so a narrow definition of purdah is needed to enable that.