With the passage of the EU referendum bill delayed by the row over purdah, Open Europe's Pawel Swidlicki argues that rather than appearing to stack the deck in its favour, if it wants to secure an in vote, the government should focus on delivering EU reform.
The government in a mess of its own making after proposing to scrap purdah
With the Tories winning an overall majority and with Labour announcing it would drop its opposition to the EU referendum, it seemed as though the referendum bill itself would have a relatively smooth and quick passage through the Commons.
However, the government has got itself into some bother over the question of purdah – the 28 day period during which the government and the civil service cannot officially participate in the referendum campaign. Arguing that the current rules – which were in force for the AV and Scottish independence referenda – are unworkable because they would prevent the government from performing any day-to-day EU business and clearly articulating its position on the EU, the government has struck the relevant section out from the bill altogether.
This has prompted concern that the full force of the government machine could swing behind the ‘Yes’ camp during the final stages of the campaign. Far from being the preserve of the usual serial rebels, this concern has been widely voiced within the Tory party including from in-leaning MPs such as Dominic Grieve and by a number of Labour MPs (the official Labour position is to support the government but to seek some “clarity” and “assurances”). Even the SNP, the only party still opposing the referendum on principle, have voiced their concerns about the government and civil service weighing into the political campaign.
While the government may be justified in saying that there are practical issues with the current purdah rules, it clearly failed to make a convincing case for taking such a radical step. Given the degree of mistrust with politicians, specifically when it comes to the EU, scrapping the purdah provisions outright has presented critics with an open goal in claiming that the government wants to stitch up the result from the outset, and raised the spectre of an embarrassing rebellion on an issue that should have been an opportunity to display party unity.
Best way to secure an in vote is to deliver EU reform and not to try to stack the deck
This has led to the government deciding to pause and rethink, with Europe Minister David Lidington writing to Tory MPs warning that finding a compromise position will not be “straightforward” and that it will take a few months with the government now planning to table its amendments in the autumn. This means that by the time the bill comes back from the Lords, where it is likely to linger for some time, it could be early 2016. This would make a May referendum coinciding with the Scottish and other devolved elections – an issue on which the government has conceded – unfeasible anyway for timing reasons.
Obviously it is crucial to get the purdah issue right; the result of a referendum which is not seen as a fair fight will not enjoy widespread political legitimacy, leading in turn for a re-run in the near future. However, it begs the question of why the Conservatives did not do more preparatory work when they had the chance – the Wharton and Neill bills did not envisage scrapping purdah rules which suggests the party leadership neglected to fully consider the implications.
Ultimately, rather than appearing to stack the deck in favour of a Yes vote, or at the very least creating that impression, the most viable path towards keeping the UK in the EU, if that is what the government is aiming for, is to secure as much reform as possible (here is our blueprint for what we think Cameron should target). This will be a crucial factor for many Tory MPs and more importantly the wider electorate so this should be the priority, and the unnecessary aggravation over the content of the referendum bill risks distracting the government from that objective.
This article was originally published on Open Europe Blog.