Tory backbench revolt

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Over Europe, natch.

This whole thing (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-15425256) is a little on the bizarre, but I suppose we should have a thread, if only to look at the final lists and so on.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Obviously it's not going to happen, but what do you think the results of said referendum would be?

It's hard to tell because most people don't really care; the E.U is widely disliked, but mostly in a low key kind of way. So it's hard to tell what would happen if there was actually a vote on the issue; famously in 1975 polls taken shortly before the vote showed majorities in favour of leaving the EEC, but eventually 67% of people voted to stay in.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

If I was Ed Miliband, I would've whipped my MPs to vote for the motion.
240ish loyal Lab MPs + 85ish Tory rebels = real trouble for the PM

Actually I think that might have been counterproductive; it's easier to turn the screws on rebels when there's something big at stake. Cameron over-reacted over this as was; had Miliband declared a three-line whip in favour of the motion, Cameron might actually hinted that the vote was a confidence matter. So less Tory rebels. Not just that, but there are a lot of vocal pro-EU voices in the PLP. Anyways, the thing is (and what I'm trying to get at, maybe) is that rebellion is habit-forming. So if you want as many Tory MPs as possible to have a record of rebellion, then...