BRUSSELS: David Cameron is to signal his determination to press ahead with the referendum on Britain’s European Union membership by publishing the parliamentary bill, which will pave the way for the vote, a day after the Queen’s speech next week.
The prime minister, who will chair the first political cabinet of the new parliament on Tuesday, will try to reassure Tory MPs that he will keep his word on Europe.
Cameron is determined to hold the referendum by the end of 2017. Among the parliamentary bills that will feature in the Queen’s speech, which will be delivered on 27 May, there will be a bill to implement the Smith commission recommendations on the further devolution of powers to the Scottish parliament, a schools bill to make it easier to allow failing or “coasting” schools to be turned into academies, and a new British bill of rights to replace the Human Rights Act and reform the UK’s relationship with the European court of human rights. Sajid Javid, the business secretary, will pledge to save at least £10bn by cutting red tape for companies through a new enterprise bill.
After a meeting of the cabinet, the prime minister will then chair the political cabinet, at which he will outline his plans to occupy the political centre ground as the Tories claim the mantle of the one-nation party amid the “disarray” of Labour and the Liberal Democrats. The political cabinet will be attended by Boris Johnson, who told Cameron that he would not take a full government post until he completed his term as London mayor next year.
