The EU campaign that won’t go away

Just when the whips were sighing with relief that Europe has been pushed down the agenda by Lords reform, a rather awkward letter from over 100 Tory MPs flops on to the Prime Minister’s doormat.

ConHome has the scoop this morning that John Baron has brought together a large group of MPs  who are calling for legislation to be written that ensures there will be a referendum in the next Parliament on the issue. When I spoke to Baron earlier, he told me that four more have joined, although he has agreed with colleagues that the full list of names will be known only to him and the Prime Minister.

He argues that rather than waiting for another transfer of powers to trigger the referendum that is currently enshrined in law, this Government should ensure that a plebiscite will take place in the next Parliament. ‘It would then be up to the next prime minister to push it through or to repeal it,’ he says, pointing out that it would be unlikely that a government would want to repeal a piece of legislation that he argues would have popular support.