EU referendum bill backed by David Cameron 'killed off after Liberal Democrats withhold support'

Move to enshrine EU membership vote in law has collapsed after Nick Clegg reportedly refused to back the bill unless Bedroom Tax was reformed

Photo: ALAMY

By Peter Dominiczak, and Ben Riley-Smith

11:20PM GMT 28 Oct 2014

David Cameron's plan to change Britain’s relationship with Brussels was dealt a significant blow on Tuesday as Nick Clegg blocked his attempts to legislate for a referendum and one of his closest allies said he would not be able to limit migration from the European Union.

The Liberal Democrats killed off any chance of the Conservatives’ EU Referendum Bill passing through the Commons. Mr Clegg was accused by Conservatives of “weakening Britain’s hand in Europe”.

It left Coalition relations at a new low and will make it harder for the Conservatives to counter the threat of the UK Independence Party before the general election.

Nick Boles, an education and business minister, said Mr Cameron may “never be able to control” immigration from within the European Union and voters will have to accept that “a very large” number of foreigners will come to the UK every year.

In comments that prompted anger in Downing Street, he admitted that the Conservatives face an uphill struggle to change the rules that allow an unlimited number of EU migrants to work and live in the UK.

Mr Cameron has pledged to renegotiate Britain’s relationship with the EU before holding an in-out referendum in 2017.
The Prime Minister used his speech earlier this month at the Conservative Party conference to insist that he will put reform of the principle of freedom of movement “at the very heart of my renegotiation strategy for Europe”.
However, when asked about restricting EU migration, Mr 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.” The intervention comes weeks before a by-election in Rochester and Strood caused by the defection to Ukip of Mark Reckless, a former Conservative MP.
The Prime Minister on Tuesday night dropped legislation enshrining an EU referendum in law after Mr Clegg demanded curbs to the spare room subsidy, called the bedroom tax by critics, as his price for support.
Bob Neill, the Tory MP who brought forward the proposals, said that Mr Clegg’s party had “killed off” his Bill and accused it of using “Westminster tricks to try to deny the British people a say” on Europe.
A senior Lib Dem source rebuffed the claims, saying it was the Tories’ decision to offer a “completely unfair deal” which led to the Bill being dumped.
It is understood Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg clashed angrily over the EU Bill during private talks in the past two days.
A Lib Dem source said: “The truth is [the Conservatives] have folded like a cheap deckchair and are trying to make us take the blame by adding ridiculous conditions they knew we would not and could not accept.
“The only logical conclusion that can be reached is that the Tories don’t really want their Bill to pass and are trying to set the Lib Dems up as the scapegoats.”
Mr Neill said: “The Lib Dems have killed off our chances of putting into law, this side of an election, an in-out EU referendum by 2017. They didn’t have the guts to vote against an EU referendum in the House of Commons. Instead they have used Westminster tricks to try to deny the British people a say on their membership of the EU.”
He added: “They are putting up two fingers to the British public.”
Mr Boles compounded Downing Street’s frustration by casting doubt on Mr Cameron’s ability to get meaningful reforms in Brussels.
He said that the Government has taken “draconian steps” to curb immigration from outside the EU but warned that “all that has done is reveal to people that there’s another big chunk of it that we can’t control”.
Mr Boles later clarified his remarks.
He 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 Prime Minister 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.”