Eurosceptics delivered a strong warning to the Tory leadership over its handling of Britain’s future relationship with Brussels after 130 MPs backed criticism of the Government’s failure to include plans to enshrine an EU referendum in law.
Peter Bone, one of the MPs behind the vote, said he believed around 115 of his Tory colleagues supported the amendment expressing regret at a lack of a bill in the Queen’s Speech and none had opposed it.
Despite the support, the amendment was defeated by 277 votes to 130, majority 147.
Mr Bone said: “It shows that the Conservative Party wants an EU referendum. No Conservative voted against the amendment, many Labour MPs voted for it.”
He added: “This is not a rebellion, this is a free vote. In fact, to a certain extent, the Prime Minister was encouraging us to vote for the amendment because, after all, it’s his own policy.”
David Cameron insisted nothing could be read into the result because he had allowed backbenchers a free vote but Labour claims he has “completely lost control” of his party on the issue.
Mr Cameron told journalits at the UN: “I don’t think people can read in anything really to the scale of that free vote not least because only the Conservative Party has a very clear position and a very clear policy about what needs to happen in Europe.”
Mr Cameron promised an in/out referendum by the end of 2017 earlier this year but eurosceptics want the commitment written into law and on Tuesday the leadership published a draft bill that would enable that to happen.
It would have to be taken up by a Tory backbencher to get the plan considered in parliament but opposition from Labour and the Lib Dems would prevent it making progress.
Tory backbenchers were given a free vote on the referendum amendment to the Queen’s Speech motion, which is non-binding, although Conservative ministers were instructed to abstain.
Mr Cameron, who missed the vote because he is on a visit to the US, denied he had been panicked into publishing the draft bill to try to quell the Tory unrest and was “profoundly relaxed” about the situation.
He insisted he had always accepted the need to do whatever was possible to strengthen his pledge to hold an in/out referendum before the end of 2017.
Earlier, Nick Clegg, standing in for the Prime Minister at question time in the Commons, dismissed Tory calls for a bill paving the way for a public vote on remaining within the EU and complained about Tory criticism of the Queen’s Speech.
The Deputy Prime Minister said: “My party has always believed that there should be a referendum on Europe when the rules change, when new things are being asked of the UK within the EU. That’s what we had in our last manifesto, that’s what we have now acted on in Government.”