The EU Referendum Bill Returns

Today the EU Referendum Bill returns. The Private Members Bill sponsored by Bob Neill MP, Bromley and Chislehurst, and backed by the whole Conservative Party will for the second time receive its first reading again.

Dave and the Rest of the Conservative Party are backing the EU Referendum Bill. Are you?

The EU Referendum Bill was first introduced by James Wharton MP, Stockton South, in 2013 to show the Conservatives commitment to holding an In/Out referendum on European Union membership. The Bill will state that a referendum must held before 2017 and, although no parliament can bind its successor, a future Parliament would have to overturn this Bill not to be bound by it.

James Wharton with John Redwood supporting an EU Referendum for Britain.

The EU Referendum Bill has already had a tough ride. The Liberal Democrats and Labour Party refused to support the Bill in the House of Commons chamber but tried to talk out the Bill during its committee stage. This point was passed however after many long nights of Lib Dem and Labour MPs adding pointless amendments which had to be all voted upon and taking for hours about trivial historical information on the 31st of December. Sadly though the Bill did not pass in the House of Lords where the Lib Dems and Labour Party did indeed vote this Bill down. The Wharton Bill was no more.

But now it is back. The House of Lords, under the Parliament Acts, can no longer stop this proposed Bill. The Prime Minster and the Commons can choose to override the House of Lords if it again votes down the EU Referendum Bill. The only place this Bill can now be killed off is in the House of Commons. Is Ed Miliband strong enough to get his MPs to vote against an EU referendum? Unlikely.

Bob Neill jubilant over his major part in the #LetBritainDecide campaign.

Bob Neill has an article in the Daily Express today saying 'This isn’t a Bill that will mean Britain leaves the EU or stays in it. It’s a Bill to end the cancer that has eaten at our democratic life for more than a generation: that of the political elite refusing to let the people decide – after renegotiation – Britain’s future relationship with Europe. We believe it’s such a fundamental decision that the choice should rest with the whole electorate.'

It is only the Conservatives who will #LetBritainDecide by giving you a referendum on Europe and by the end of this Parliamentary session this commitment is likely to be enshrined in statute. You can help the Conservatives and Bob Neill by co-sponsoring the EU Referendum Bill here.