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| Boris Johnson: ministers should be allowed free vote in EU referendum | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Boris Johnson has ramped up the pressure on David Cameron to allow ministers to campaign freely in the EU referendum, saying the cabinet will have differing views and people should “get over it”. | |
| The mayor of London waded in to the debate after the prime minister caused controversy by backtracking on his comments indicating ministers would have to vote the same way as him. | The mayor of London waded in to the debate after the prime minister caused controversy by backtracking on his comments indicating ministers would have to vote the same way as him. |
| Related: MPs debate the EU referendum bill - Politics live | Related: MPs debate the EU referendum bill - Politics live |
| Amid an outcry in the party about the idea of all ministers having to vote to stay in a reformed EU, Cameron claimed the media had misinterpreted his remarks and refused to say whether he would allow ministers to campaign freely during the runup to the referendum. | Amid an outcry in the party about the idea of all ministers having to vote to stay in a reformed EU, Cameron claimed the media had misinterpreted his remarks and refused to say whether he would allow ministers to campaign freely during the runup to the referendum. |
| Pressed for his views during his phone-in on LBC, Johnson made it clear he thought ministers should be able to join either side of the debate, saying it would be “safer and more harmonious” to let them campaign however they wish. | Pressed for his views during his phone-in on LBC, Johnson made it clear he thought ministers should be able to join either side of the debate, saying it would be “safer and more harmonious” to let them campaign however they wish. |
| Johnson said this approach seemed to work during the 1975 referendum on membership of the European Economic Community. | Johnson said this approach seemed to work during the 1975 referendum on membership of the European Economic Community. |
| “We seem to have been round the houses a bit on this,” he said. “I think probably it would be safer and more harmonious just to say, ‘OK you make your minds up’. Do you really need to bind everybody in? I think there will be different views. Get over it.” | “We seem to have been round the houses a bit on this,” he said. “I think probably it would be safer and more harmonious just to say, ‘OK you make your minds up’. Do you really need to bind everybody in? I think there will be different views. Get over it.” |
| Johnson also said Cameron would be “prepared to walk away” if he did not get his own way in Europe. “There’s a lot to play for. The only point I would make in all this is there’s no point in going into a negotiation like this unless you are prepared to walk away and to paint an alternative vision for Britain. | Johnson also said Cameron would be “prepared to walk away” if he did not get his own way in Europe. “There’s a lot to play for. The only point I would make in all this is there’s no point in going into a negotiation like this unless you are prepared to walk away and to paint an alternative vision for Britain. |
| “I think the prime minister will be able to make a recommendation, and I think it’s almost certain that if he gets the deal he wants, the overwhelming majority of his colleagues, I’m sure – from both the front and the back benches – will support him. So I think he’ll be in a pretty strong position.” | “I think the prime minister will be able to make a recommendation, and I think it’s almost certain that if he gets the deal he wants, the overwhelming majority of his colleagues, I’m sure – from both the front and the back benches – will support him. So I think he’ll be in a pretty strong position.” |
| Related: EU referendum: David Cameron clarifies his clarification | Related: EU referendum: David Cameron clarifies his clarification |
| Johnson said during the interview that he was speaking “off the cuff”, despite widespread news coverage about Cameron’s confused position over the last two days on ministerial campaigning on the EU. | Johnson said during the interview that he was speaking “off the cuff”, despite widespread news coverage about Cameron’s confused position over the last two days on ministerial campaigning on the EU. |
| Cameron was widely reported as planning to impose collective ministerial responsibility during the campaign following a briefing he gave to reporters at the G7 summit on Sunday. But the prime minister later said he had been misinterpreted, and blamed reporters accompanying him at the summit in Bavaria for misunderstanding him. | Cameron was widely reported as planning to impose collective ministerial responsibility during the campaign following a briefing he gave to reporters at the G7 summit on Sunday. But the prime minister later said he had been misinterpreted, and blamed reporters accompanying him at the summit in Bavaria for misunderstanding him. |
| His initial remarks on Sunday caused some surprise in Westminster where at least one member of the cabinet said in private that he had made a mistake which was bound to be corrected. But the government initially appeared to see no need for a clarification. James Wharton, the junior communities minister who sought to introduce a private member’s bill in the last parliament for an EU referendum, was dispatched on to the airwaves on Monday morning to defend the prime minister. | |
| A few hours later, at the G7 summit, Cameron explained that collective ministerial responsibility only applied to the current stage of the renegotiations. No decision had been made, he said, on whether ministers would be free to make the case to stay in or leave the EU during the referendum campaign. He said ministers were currently required, as part of being in government, to expect a successful outcome to EU negotiations. | A few hours later, at the G7 summit, Cameron explained that collective ministerial responsibility only applied to the current stage of the renegotiations. No decision had been made, he said, on whether ministers would be free to make the case to stay in or leave the EU during the referendum campaign. He said ministers were currently required, as part of being in government, to expect a successful outcome to EU negotiations. |