This is Bath -- David Cameron was last night under pressure to call a referendum on Europe before the next general election, issuing a direct challenge to his Liberal Democrat coalition partners. Senior Conservatives urged the Prime Minister to hold a "mandate referendum" on his plan to re-negotiate the terms of Britain's EU membership as early next spring in a bid to halt the rise of Nigel Farage's rampant UK Independence Party. The anti-Europe party were talked down as rank outsiders by the main three parties prior to Thursday's local election vote but went on to secure 24 per cent of the vote nationwide, including taking five seats in the West. Ministers warned they could not act without the support of Lib Dems as the Conservatives lack an overall Commons majority. However, former Tory leadership contender David Davis said they should put it to a Commons vote and challenge Labour and the Lib Dems to vote against it. "It would be very interesting for the Liberals – and indeed the Labour Party – to vote against giving the public a say on this matter," he told the BBC1 Sunday Politics programme. "I think the politics of that for them are very difficult. If it was rejected by the other parties. I think that would actually cause a new dividing line in British politics. "The Lib Dems are one sixth or one seventh of the coalition MPs. Should they have a veto on everything? I don't think so. Should they have the right to say 'no' to something which is so fundamental to the future of the country? I don't think so?" Mr Davis said staging the referendum to coincide with the elections to the European Parliament next May would be "an absolute Ukip killer". The Prime Minister could then go ahead with his plan hold an in/out referendum on Britain's EU membership once the re-negotiation was complete after the general election in 2015. But Martin Horwood, the Liberal Democrat MP for Cheltenham, warned against a knee-jerk reaction to Ukip's success at the local elections. Writing in our sister paper, the Gloucestershire Echo, this morning, he said: "From the media reaction, you'd think they had won the election. In seats won, they actually came fourth nationally and locally. They did very well in counties like Lincolnshire and Norfolk and took three local seats in the Forest of Dean.""But no one should panic or tack suddenly rightwards in the face of significant – but limited – Ukip success." Foreign Secretary William Hague said the lack of an overall Conservative majority meant it was unlikely they could hold a mandate referendum before the general election, but did not rule out putting it to a Commons vote. "It is likely in such a situation that our proposal would be defeated in the current House of Commons. That's a constraint but of course we haven't ruled that out, we will be considering the options on this," he told Sky News's Murnaghan programme. Defence Secretary Philip Hammond suggested the Conservatives could publish a draft bill before the election, without a Commons vote, to underline their commitment to an in/out referendum in the next parliament. "We are looking at doing that and I think that would be a very good idea. I would strongly support the idea of publishing a draft bill ahead of the election," he told BBC1's The Andrew Marr Show. Tory Party chairman Grant Shapps said there would be a bill setting out what they would do and how they would carry out the re-negotiations, although he did not make clear when it would be published. "Of course we may challenge other parties to support it. If we can get people to support it, then it can come before the Parliament," he told the Sunday Politics. Lib Dem deputy leader Simon Hughes made clear they would oppose a referendum in this parliament. "I think it would be madness to have a referendum and spend all our time thinking about whether we should be in or out of Europe when the priority is to sort out the economy," he told the Murnaghan programme. Meanwhile Mr Farage – still celebrating his party's gains in last week's council elections in England and Wales – made clear there could be no deal with the Conservatives as long as Mr Cameron was leader. "Mr Cameron set the course of this coalition Government. His own leadership since 2005 has been pro-EU, pro open door immigration and pro building wind turbines all over our green and pleasant land. He is not going to U-turn on all of those things," he told The Andrew Marr Show. However he suggested Ukip could form a pact with an alternative Conservative leader, although he did not consider it a priority. "If he was removed and somebody else was put in place and wanted to come and talk to us and say 'Shall we find an accommodation?' we'd consider it, but it is not my priority," he said.
Reported by This is 4 hours ago.
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