Six ministers back EU exit campaign

SIX Conservative Cabinet ministers have demanded that they be allowed to campaign for Britain to leave the EU, it was reported last night.

The unnamed ministers are unhappy with David Cameron’s plans for collective responsibility ahead of the referendum.

One secretary of state told The Daily Telegraph it would be ‘insane’ for the Prime Minister to expect Eurosceptic ministers to join the In campaign. Another minister said it would lead to a ‘bitterly divided party’.

Mr Cameron insists publicly that he has not decided whether to let ministers campaign with their consciences, but it is believed he has privately made it clear they are expected to back membership under reformed terms.

A Cabinet source told the Mail ministers who want to campaign to leave the EU will be sacked.

They said: ‘The idea that the Prime Minister will welcome back people who have spent the previous few months waging a campaign against him is a joke. If people want to campaign to leave then they will be out – it is just a matter of timing.’

It comes after the Ministerial Code – the rulebook for all members of the Government – was rewritten last week to tighten the rules on collective responsibility, the Daily Telegraph also reported.

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon played down a Cabinet split yesterday, telling the The Andrew Marr on BBC1: ‘I think we’re all Eurosceptics now. I don’t see any euro fanatics around the cabinet table.’