Cameron to face down Tory rebels

With the rebels claiming up to 100 Conservative MPs could defy the party whips and back a referendum in tonight’s Commons vote, Mr Cameron faces the most serious challenge to his authority since taking office.

At the EU summit in Brussels, the Prime Minister attempted to draw some of the heat from the revolt by suggesting Britain could exploit the eurozone crisis to start reclaiming powers from the EU.

But he was immediately plunged into a furious public row with his Liberal Democrat coalition partners who do not support the repatriation of powers from Brussels.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg issued a statement through his spokesman warning it was “far too early to speculate” on what the Government’s position would be in the event of any moves to change EU treaties.

Mr Cameron had suggested that if the eurozone countries sought greater integration in order to resolve the problems of the single currency - which would require the unanimous support of all 27 member states - the UK would “exact a price”.

However the Lib Dem leader’s shot across the bows threatened to wreck his attempts to win over rebels within his own ranks while inflaming tensions between the two parties.

With both Labour and the Liberal Democrats whipping their MPs to vote against the motion, the Government is guaranteed a comfortable majority in the Commons division lobbies.

However, the vote threatens to reopen deep wounds within the Conservative Party over Britain’s position in the EU, raising the prospect of a return to the Tory civil war of the 1990s.

So far, 60 Conservative MPs have signed the motion calling for a referendum on whether the UK should remain in the EU, leave it or renegotiate its membership while another 33 have signed compromise amendments which ministers say also run counter to Government policy.

Ministers confirmed over the weekend that the Government would be imposing a three-line whip requiring Conservative MPs to vote against the motion or face the prospect of disciplinary action.

There have been reports of the Conservative whips threatening potential rebels that they will damage their chances of a ministerial job or lose their seats when parliamentary boundaries are redrawn if they do not fall into line.

The move has angered many Tories, who argued they should be given a free vote.