Johnson dismisses Tory calls for ultimatum referendum on EU

Boris Johnson yesterday distanced himself from hardline Tory demands for a straightforward referendum on whether Britain should remain a member of the European Union.

In a move that will help David Cameron resist growing backbench demands for an in/out referendum, the mayor of London said the UK’s relationship with Brussels should not “boil down to such a simple question”.

The prime minister has signalled his readiness to hold a referendum on the EU but is opposed to an in/out alternative. He wants to use it to receive “fresh consent” for a renegotiation of Britain’s position in the EU.

Influential eurosceptic backbencher Mark Pritchard stepped up calls yesterday for a referendum on the question of Britain’s future membership. He urged ministers to bring forward legislation before the end of the parliament.

“This should be an in/out referendum — anything short of that simply won’t deliver,” he said in an article for the Telegraph website.

Mr Johnson said yesterday that any further fiscal integration or banking union should trigger a referendum but that a single question on whether the UK should remain a member state was unnecessary.

Speaking to Pienaar’s Politics on BBC Radio Five Live from India, where he is conducting a trade mission, Mr Johnson said: “I certainly think that if there was to be a new treaty, for instance on a fiscal union or on a banking union or whatever, then it would be absolutely right to put that to the people.

“Whether you have an in/out referendum now, I can’t quite see why it would be necessary.

“The thing that worries me is that the European Union is basically changing from what it was initially constituted to be.

“It is becoming the eurozone de facto, and the eurozone is not something that we participate in.

“I think it is becoming a little bit unfair on us to be endlessly belaboured and criticised for being the back-marker when actually we think that this project is not one that is well founded or well thought through.

“It is extremely painful and difficult. If and when the eurozone goes forward in to the way that seems likely in to the banking union, in to a full-scale political union, then I think it is inevitable given the changes that will entail to the European Union that we will have to consult the British people about what they want and in those circumstances yes, we should jolly well have a referendum.”

An EU summit is to be held in the new year and it is hoped a budget deal can be reached by February.