DAVID CAMERON has "shifted ground" on Europe and says he is now prepared to introduce "legal safeguards" that will guarantee a referendum on Britain's membership of the EU takes place after the 2015 general election.
The Prime Minister's willingness to give MPs a vote on an in-out referendum that would enshrine the process in law is seen as a response to the growing electoral threat posed by UKIP. Nigel Farage's anti-EU party, which has described Cameron's promise of a referendum by 2018 as "meaningless", is expected to enjoy another surge in support today in local government elections taking place in many English shires.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The PM has "always held back" from giving MPs a pre-election vote on a referendum because he knows it will "split the coalition and enrage pro-European Tories", says The Times. He has changed his mind partly because of UKIP's surging fortunes and partly due to pressure from within his own party. More than 100 Tory MPs have urged him to make such a move "as a way of overcoming scepticism of promised referendums, while undercutting UKIP's appeal".
The idea of "legislating" the referendum promise will be explored by No. 10's newest recruit, Jo Johnson, brother of London mayor Boris Johnson.
Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, said today that the Tories' frantic "struggle" to deal with UKIP's rising influence was pulling Cameron away from the "centre ground" and making "day-to-day progress in the coalition" more difficult, The Guardian reports. Clegg, whose own party faces the prospect of coming fourth behind UKIP in today's poll, said he would "dig in my heels and make sure the centre of gravity of the government as a whole does not get pulled rightwards due to the internal dynamics of the Conservative party".
The deputy PM said Conservative policies on welfare, Europe and climate change were three "pre-eminent examples" of Cameron being pulled right. He also conceded that his coalition partner was "no longer the same political animal as presented before the 2010 general election".
-
The Week Unwrapped: Are British rappers the world’s best?Podcast Plus can the Maldives quit smoking? And can whales lead us to immortality?
-
The week’s best photosIn Pictures A leap through the leaves, a typhoon's aftermath, and more
-
Microsoft pursues digital intelligence ‘aligned to human values’ in shift from OpenAIUNDER THE RADAR The iconic tech giant is jumping into the AI game with a bold new initiative designed to place people first in the search for digital intelligence
-
Five takeaways from Plaid Cymru’s historic Caerphilly by-election winThe Explainer The ‘big beasts’ were ‘humbled’ but there was disappointment for second-placed Reform too
-
Taking the low road: why the SNP is still standing strongTalking Point Party is on track for a fifth consecutive victory in May’s Holyrood election, despite controversies and plummeting support
-
The end of ‘golden ticket’ asylum rightsThe Explainer Refugees lose automatic right to bring family over and must ‘earn’ indefinite right to remain
-
Does Reform have a Russia problem?Talking Point Nigel Farage is ‘in bed with Putin’, claims Rachel Reeves, after party’s former leader in Wales pleaded guilty to taking bribes from the Kremlin
-
The Liberal Democrats: on the march?Talking Point After winning their highest number of seats in 2024, can the Lib Dems marry ‘stunts’ with a ‘more focused electoral strategy’?
-
Is Britain turning into ‘Trump’s America’?Today’s Big Question Direction of UK politics reflects influence and funding from across the pond
-
Behind the ‘Boriswave’: Farage plans to scrap indefinite leave to remainThe Explainer The problem of the post-Brexit immigration surge – and Reform’s radical solution
-
Russian drone tests Romania as Trump spinsSpeed Read Trump is ‘resisting congressional plans to impose newer and tougher penalties on Russia’s energy sector’
