Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

How David Cameron could still avoid a bitter Tory row on Europe without a free vote

David Cameron’s indication that his ministers will have to follow the position of the government on the EU referendum or leave the government has caused some consternation in his party. David Davis has just warned on the Today programme that the Prime Minister risks ‘turning a decent debate into a bitter argument’, while the newspapers write this up as a very risky move indeed.

Cameron told reporters covering the G7 summit in Bavaria that ‘I’ve been very clear. If you want to be part of the government, you have to take the view that we are engaged in an exercise of renegotiation, to have a referendum and that will lead to a successful outcome.’

This is also a very clear, perhaps the clearest yet, that the Prime Minister is planning to recommend a ‘Yes’ vote to staying in the EU, regardless of what he ends up getting.

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