So after a few hours of outrage in the Tory party, David Cameron’s aides have announced that he didn’t say ministers would have to support his stance during the EU referendum or leave government. Number 10 has clarified the Prime Minister’s remarks, saying they only apply to ministers’ stances during the renegotiation, not the period of campaigning leading up to the referendum. The Prime Minister’s official spokeswoman said:
‘The PM was clearly talking yesterday about the position on collective responsibility during the renegotiation, a position that the PM has set out previously, including in the House during the Queen’s Speech debate, a position that, I think, has been over-interpreted by a number of outlets this morning who have wrongly suggested that the PM was talking about the approach during the referendum.’
The spokeswoman also said that Cameron had not taken a decision on what would happen during the referendum.
This may be to soothe the frustration of those in the party who thought they were being shut out by the no free vote decision.
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