A Birmingham MP is urging voters to back proposed new laws for a referendum on leaving the European Union.
Andrew Mitchell (Con Sutton Coldfield) is supporting a campaign launched by Conservative chairman Grant Shapps encouraging members of the public to write to their MP and use Twitter or Facebook to demand a ballot.
The House of Commons is set to vote on whether to hold a referendum on July 5. The measure is backed by the Prime Minister but not by his Liberal Democrat colleagues including Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister.
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It means that instead of introducing the Bill as official government business it has fallen to backbencher James Wharton, a 29-year-old MP who joined the Commons for the first time in 2010, to propose the Bill.
Nonetheless, the Conservative Party is officially backing the Bill, and has launched a campaign urging members of the public to do the same.
The party has set up a website, www.LetBritainDecide.com, to make it easy for people to back Wharton’s Bill. And it is urging voters to discuss the measure on Twitter and Facebook, or to download ready-made draft letters to send to their MP or local newspaper.
Mr Mitchell said: “The Prime Minister has set out a road map which is precisely what Britain needs.
“It means renegotiating our relationship with the EU so that it works better for us, and then giving eveyone a chance to vote in a referendum. I strongly support the Bill and will be voting for it, and I support the party’s campaign.”
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Conservative Party Chairman Grant Shapps said: “Britain deserves a vote. It’s been nearly 40 years since the British people last had their say on Europe. People feel the EU is heading in a direction they never signed up to.
“That is why Conservatives want to give Britain a clear vote – in or out – before the end of 2017, after a full renegotiation. A draft Bill to make this happen will soon be debated by MPs – but, crucially, it needs the support of other political parties to pass. Britain needs everyone to build public pressure on this. That’s why we are launching LetBritainDecide.com today: to give people a voice, and to urge MPs to listen to their constituents.”
Liberal Democrats and Labour both oppose the measure – although some Labour backbenchers including Ronnie Campbell (Lab Blyth Valley) and Grahame Morris (Lab Easington) have joined a pressure group called Labour for a Referendum, which is urging Labour leader Ed Miliband to back a poll.
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