By Tim Montgomerie
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"The London Mayor forces the pace on Europe, telling the Prime Minister to sever most of our ties with Brussels and hold an in-out referendum on a bare bones relationship."
That's the verdict of today's Sun on yesterday's speech by Boris Johnson on Europe and it looks like we may not have to wait long for Cameron to respond to the Mayor's lead.
This morning's Times (£) reports that the Prime Minister is also ready to give the British people an In/Out referendum at some point in the next parliament:
"Mr Cameron would urge the public to support a looser relationship with Brussels that he hopes to negotiate over the coming years. But he is ready to give the country the chance to say “no” to such a deal, a result that would effectively be seen as a vote to quit the EU, at least on the proposed terms."
If The Times' report is true then the PM and (via a slightly winding road) Boris will have ended up in similar positions:
As I argued in last week's Times (£) a promise of a referendum won't be enough, however. Mr Cameron must introduce legislation very soon to make it clear that his referendum promise is bankable:
"Vague promises of a referendum as late as 2018 won’t cut much ice with an electorate that has watched all the main parties fail to deliver on referendum promises. Mr Cameron should do as Tory MPs led by John Baron have argued and introduce enabling legislation in this Parliament that would guarantee a referendum early in the next. If Liberal Democrat and Labour MPs or peers vote it down, it will be clear which party is willing to give the people a say and which is not."
An In/Out vote is vital for three reasons:
It is still unclear whether Mr Cameron will give his big Europe speech before Christmas or early in the new year.