David Cameron’s approach to the EU referendum was in danger of slipping from confusion to farce when he clarified his position by saying he had not yet decided if ministers will be free to campaign as they wish.

But the prime minister insisted the government will have a view on the outcome of any negotiations on the terms of British membership and will not be a bystander when the referendum campaign is in full swing.

Cameron had been widely reported as planning to impose collective ministerial responsibility during the campaign following a briefing he gave to reporters at the G7 on Sunday. But the prime minister later said he had been misinterpreted, and blamed reporters accompanying him at the summit in Bavaria for misunderstanding him.

His initial remarks on Sunday caused some surprise in Westminster where at least one member of the cabinet said in private that he had made a mistake which was bound to be corrected.

But the government initially appeared to see no need for a clarification. James Wharton, the junior communities minister who sought to introduce a private member’s bill in the last parliament for an EU referendum, was dispatched onto the airwaves on Monday morning to defend the prime minister.

A few hours later, at the G7 summit, Cameron said he had been misinterpreted as he explained that collective ministerial responsibility only applied to the current stage of the renegotiations.

No decision had been made on whether ministers would be free to make the case to stay in or leave during the referendum campaign. He said ministers were currently required, as part of being in government, to expect a successful outcome to EU negotiations.

The great David Cameron EU referendum U-turn – how it happened Read more

Cameron’s press conference at the end of the summit was dominated by questions on his approach to ministerial responsibility during the referendum campaign. He will be frustrated that his first appearance on the world stage since his re-election largely involved answering questions on how he is to prevent his party fracturing on whether the UK should stay in the EU.

The prime minister said he only realised his remarks had been misinterpreted when he read the newspapers on Monday morning. His officials denied he had been forced into a hasty U-turn by an angry reaction to the newspaper reports in London from senior Conservative figures such as Andrew Mitchell, the former chief whip, and David Davis, the prominent rightwing backbencher.

Cameron insisted: “I was clearly referring to a process of renegotiation. I have always said what I want is an outcome for Britain that keeps us in a reformed EU, but I have also said that we do not yet know the outcome of these negotiations, which is why I have always said ‘I rule nothing out, and therefore it is wrong to answer hypothetical questions’. We are going to have to take this stage by stage and step by step.”

He continued: “What I said yesterday is that if you want to be part of the government you have to take the view that we are engaged in a renegotiation to have a referendum that will lead to a successful outcome.”

Ten ways in which life could change if the UK left the EU Read more

However Downing Street, by its normal standards, had been slow to jump on the now dismissed overnight reports, and also seemed to have allowed Wharton to appear on the BBC to say Cameron was right to assert that ministerial collective responsibility would apply in a referendum.

Wharton, believing he was following the government line, said anyone serving in the government would have to resign if they wanted to oppose the official position on a referendum vote. “That is, fundamentally, what that means,” Wharton said.

It is rare for a minister to be put up for a flagship programme such as Today on BBC Radio 4 unless the minister has been given and understands the government line on an issue.

There was confusion at Westminster at how the prime minister had allowed mixed messages to emerge from the G7 summit. One group thought that No 10 had decided to assert its authority after the launch of a new group of Eurosceptic Tory MPs, Conservatives for Britain, whose central demand for parliament to be given a veto over EU legislation was rejected out of hand by ministers.

Others suggested that Cameron, who was distracted at the G7 summit, may have been slow to appreciate the reporting of his remarks on Sunday.

Until Cameron gave the new interpretation of his remarks, the issue of collective responsibility applying to any renegotiation of the UK’s position in the EU had not been thought to arise since no minister was likely to object in principle to such a renegotiation.



Cameron added: “I don’t know the outcome of the negotiations. I hope and I believe the outcome will be Britain with a better place in the EU dealing with our problems, and therefore I will be able to recommend Britain will be able to stay in a reformed EU.

“That is the aim, that is what I want to achieve, and I am confident of achieving it. I have said many times I do not know the outcome of the negotiations and if I don’t achieve what I want I rule nothing out.”

He then seemed to assert the government will have a collective view, even if the decision on ministerial freedom during the campaign is unresolved. He said: “I don’t believe the government is a bystander in this. The government will have a clear view. The view I want to get us to is a successful reform of the EU and being able to recommend Britain should stay in.”

Cameron is to hold further bilateral meetings in the sidelines of an EU summit on Wednesday, and he is also to scheduled to meet the Italian prime minister, Matteo Renzi, in the coming weeks.





