Boris Johnson’s surprise rejection of an In/Out referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union last night may have been an attempt to help David Cameron as he prepares to set out his own position on the EU, but the Prime Minister will find he’s not in for an easy ride from his own parliamentary party. As helpful as the Mayor might have been, his intervention has been rather overshadowed by a discussion paper from the Tory party vice chairman, Michael Fabricant, in which the former whip calls for a pact with UKIP.
Fabricant’s plan follows the offer to the Tories which Nigel Farage set out in the pages of the Spectatorin May for joint UKIP/Conservative candidates. It involves the Prime Minister pledging a referendum in exchange for UKIP not standing against Tories in the next general election. The paper says:
‘The United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) is now a significant contributory factor in costing the Conservative Party victories in marginal seats.
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