Cameron facing Tory rift over referendum

TORY leader David Cameron was last night fighting to prevent a damaging new rift over Europe dominating his final party conference before the British general election.

As activists gathered in Manchester, he rejected calls by Tory eurosceptics for a commitment to press ahead with his promised referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, regardless of whether it had been implemented by the time an incoming Conservative government had taken power.

Following the Yes vote in Ireland’s second referendum, he found himself coming under intense pressure to explain what he would do if the treaty had been fully ratified by the time of the election.