Fifty Conservative MPs to challenge David Cameron over ‘rigged’ EU referendum rules

‘David Cameron is facing his first bloody nose in the House of Commons just five weeks after the general election with as many as 50 Conservative MPs set to try to force changes to the rules of the European Union referendum.

The Prime Minister is hoping that the potential Tory rebels – which include former Tory Cabinet ministers Liam Fox and Owen Paterson – can be bought off with some “credible assurances” ahead of Tuesday’s crunch votes on backbench amendments to the EU Referendum Bill.

However Sir William Cash, who led the Tory rebels against Sir John Major’s Government over the Maastricht treaty in the 1990s, was confident that the rebels can give Mr Cameron a bloody nose, with the support of Labour and the SNP, by overturning the Tories’ 12 Commons majority.’

Read more: Fifty Conservative MPs to challenge David Cameron over 'rigged' EU referendum rules