David Cameron
in Leeds on Monday. Collapse of the referendum bill is a mixed blessing
for the prime minister. Photograph: Lynne Cameron/Pool/Reuters
David Cameron suffered a double blow on Europe on Tuesday when a parliamentary bill to establish an EU membership referendum by the end of 2017 collapsed and a key UK ally told Britain to accept a demand from Brussels to pay an extra £1.7bn.
The Conservatives attacked the Liberal Democrats for killing off the backbench bill, which would have placed an in/out EU membership referendum by the end of 2017 on the statute book.
Its collapse is a mixed blessing for the prime minister. The lack of a
referendum law means the Tories will have to focus the EU section of
coalition talks with the Lib Dems on delivering a referendum rather than
agreeing a government mandate on the membership renegotiations with the
UK’s 27 EU partners.
On the upside for the Tories, the lack of a bill means that Cameron
will be able to claim that the Tories are the only party committed to
legislating in the new parliament to deliver a vote.
The row over the bill came as Nick Boles, the Tory business minister,
broke new ground by admitting that Britain would be unable to fully
control its borders as long as it remained a member of the EU.
Boles told Total Politics magazine: “We may never be able to control
it entirely, because it’s a fundamental principle of the EU. But it will
be very hard for the British people to accept that, for as long as
Britain remains the most dynamic economy in the EU, we’re going to be
the net recipient of a very large amount of immigration every year. And
it’s going to be hard to bring those people back on board. That’s a
challenge both to the Labour party and to us almost equally. It’s
something we have to respond to, not because of an economic argument.
Politics isn’t all about economics.”
But Boles raised concerns that tough measures on non-EU citizens, as
part of the government’s failed attempt to bring immigration down to the
tens of thousands, were deterring skilled migrants from coming to the
UK. “What’s happening, which is a bit troubling, is that quite a lot of
people aren’t applying because they think it’s going to be impossibly
hard.
“There is a worry that the impression has gone out that you’re never
going to get into the UK, and no doubt some of our competitor nations
are using that. We would be in a much more healthy position if we were
able to say, as I genuinely believe is the truth, that we truly welcome
and want people from all over the world who have skills.”
Boles later made clear that he was not suggesting that the prime
minister would not be able to limit EU migration when he seeks to change
the terms of Britain’s EU membership. Boles said: “I do not believe and
did not say that we cannot seek changes to the way immigration works
within the EU. Quite the contrary, I think it is essential that we do
so. The PM is quite right to put the control of immigration from the EU
at the very heart of his negotiation for a better deal for Britain in
Europe – and then put that new deal to the British people in an in-out
referendum in 2017. The British people want this issue sorted and I am
absolutely confident that David Cameron will do just that.” Helle Thorning-Schmidt, prime minister of Denmark.Photograph: Ray Stubblebine/EPA
The remarks by Boles came as Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the prime minister of Denmark, said Britain should accept a demand from the European commission to pay an extra £1.7bn to the EU.
Cameron told MPs that he would refuse to pay the full sum, though he indicated that Britain might agree to pay a smaller amount.
Thorning-Schmidt told Bloomberg: “I respect that the UK wants to
discuss this among ministers, but there are rules that must be kept.
Countries must follow the rules as they are.”
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