Tory's pressure on PM over EU vote

Source BBC News@ tienganhvui.com

5 October 2013 Last updated at 21:59 ET

Adam Afriyie is MP for Windsor

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A Tory MP touted as a future leader of the party has said he will try to force the government to hold an early vote on whether Britain should leave the EU.

Adam Afriyie said "suspicious" voters were "not convinced" by the prime minister's promise to put the issue to an "in or out" referendum in 2017.

Writing in the Mail on Sunday, he said he would push for a vote next October.

But one fellow Eurosceptic, the Conservative MP Andrea Leadsom, said the move was "really bad timing".

Mr Afriyie - who has denied newspaper claims he is being groomed to replace party leader David Cameron - said he will table an amendment to the European Union (Referendum) Bill on Monday.

"Only by setting an early date can we kick-start EU renegotiation talks and give the British people what they so clearly want - a say on our country's future with Europe," he wrote in a lengthy Mail on Sunday article.

In response - according to the newspaper - a Downing Street spokesman said: "We will not allow this amendment to be passed under any circumstances. The PM will not let it stand."

'Completely mad'

Under pressure after a surge in popularity for the UK Independence Party and from many in his own party, Mr Cameron has pledged to hold a referendum if the Conservatives win the 2015 election.

But in his article, Windsor MP Mr Afriyie wrote: "The fact is, the British people are not convinced there will be a referendum at all if we wait until after the general election."

His intervention comes after the prime minister allayed the concerns of many in his party with his promise of an in-out vote.

"The timing that David Cameron's proposing... is actually good because there's a huge amount of change that's going to take place in the EU that gives Britain the chance for real reform," Ms Leadsom, a prominent anti-EU campaigner, told BBC Radio 5 live.

"So calling it early just loses that chance, so it's completely mad to do that."

Mr Afriyie's plan was a "huge disappointment," she added.

And James Wharton, the Tory MP who is attempting to steer the referendum bill through Parliament said it may even "kill" the legislation altogether.

"I hope MPs will decline to support it as the ultimate impact might well be to kill my bill, which would only help those who don't want any referendum at all."

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