The majority of MPs voted to reject a motion^[1] which would have allowed a provision holding a referendum on the United Kingdom's membership of the European Union (EU) to be inserted into the European Union (Amendment) Bill.

The text of the rejected motion^[1] was:

• That it be an Instruction to the Committee on the European Union (Amendment) Bill that it have power to make provision in the Bill for the holding of a referendum on the United Kingdom's continued membership of the European Union.

The Liberal Democrats put forward this motion because they argued that any referendum should be on the EU as a whole rather than on individual treaties. As Adrian Sanders MP explains:^[2]

• 'How can one remain a member of a club when one has rejected its rules?'

However, the Tories and Labour thought this was a cynical tactic by the Lib Dems:

• 'He is not arguing about the great principle of staying in or leaving the European Union, because he does not want that referendum at all. This instruction is just a weasel tactic to get out of the promise that he made to the electorate at the last general election to hold a referendum on the European treaty. Nobody who shares my opinion will be fooled by this rather disgraceful tactic.'^[3]

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• [1] Edward Davey MP, House of Commons, 4 March 2008
• [2] Adrian Sanders MP, House of Commons, 4 March 2008
• [3] Philip Davies MP, House of Commons, 4 March 2008

The majority of MPs voted against making it necessary to hold a referendum before the Treaty of Lisbon could be inserted into the list of EU treaties in force.^[1][2]

The technical process for ratifying the Treaty (which could have been conditional on the referendum) is its mention in the European Union (Amendment) Bill^[3]. The Treaty of Lisbon^[4][5] would be incorporated into United Kingdom law by inserting it into the list of treaties covered by the European Communities Act 1972,^[6] which is the foundation stone of Britain's membership of the EU.

Owing to a 3-line whipped no-vote by their leader, all Liberal Democrat MPs who voted in this division were considered to have rebelled, and those who were front bench spokesmen had to resign from their positions.^[7]

The main aims of the Lisbon Treaty were to^[8]:

• Streamline EU institutions
• Establish a permanent President of the European Council (as of 16 March 2010 held by Herman Van Rompuy)
• Establish the post of High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (as of 16 March 2010 held by Catherine Ashton)
• Give new powers to the EU over justice and home affairs
• Remove the national veto in some areas such as energy security and emergency aid

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• [1] William Hague MP, House of Commons, 5 March 2008.
• [2] See New Clause 1, Amendments to be discussed in Committee describes the referendum question, 5 March 2008.
• [3] European Union (Amendment) Bill, full text.
• [4] Lisbon EU treaty, Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
• [5] Treaty of Lisbon, Wikipedia.
• [6] European Communities Act 1972, Section 1(2), Consolidated version, List of Treaties that have been incorporated.
• [7] Senior Lib Dems quit over EU vote, BBC News, 5 March 2008.
• [8] BBC News Q&A: The Lisbon Treaty, 5 February 2010

The majority No voters rejected an amendment^[1] to the European Union (Amendment) Bill.

MP Austin Mitchell commented on the amendment which was the subject of this division stating:

• Amendment No. 296 provides for an enabling power to have another referendum, so would that not satisfy the Liberal desire to have their in/out referendum?

The amendment was another mechanism by which some MPs tried to force a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. A previous attempt had also failed.

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• [1] Ian Davidson MP, House of Commons, 5 March 2008
• [2] Austin Mitchell MP, (Great Grimsby, Labour), House of Commons 5 March 2008

The majority of MPs voted against a proposal that if a proposed transfer of powers from the UK to the EU was rejected in a referendum a subsequent, binding, referendum ought be held on the UK's membership of the EU.

MPs were debating the European Union Bill^[1]. The text of the clause MPs rejected was:

• In order to meet the referendum condition referred to in section 2, section 3 and section 6 of this Act, the Act providing for the approval of-
• (a) a treaty under the terms of section 2; or
• (b) a decision under the terms of section 3; or
• (c) a decision or draft decision under section 6
• shall also provide for a further binding referendum to be held on continuing United Kingdom membership of the European Union, if the majority of those voting in a referendum held under the terms of the relevant section are opposed to the ratification of the treaty, decision or draft decision, as the case may be

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• [1] Parliament's webpage on the European Union Bill (Now the European Union Act 2011)

The majority of MPs voted against a proposal to call upon the Government to hold a referendum on the United Kingdom's membership of the European Union.

The defeated motion was moved by David Nuttall MP^[1], it read:

• That this House
• calls upon the Government to introduce a Bill in the next session of Parliament to provide for the holding of a national referendum on whether the United Kingdom should
• (a) remain a member of the European Union on the current terms;
• (b) leave the European Union; or
• (c) re-negotiate the terms of its membership in order to create a new relationship based on trade and co-operation.

Despite the majority of MPs not supporting this motion Parliament did eventually consider a European Union (Referendum) Bill introduced as a private members bill by James Wharton MP^[2].

• [1] David Nuttall (Bury North, Conservative), House of Commons 24 October 2011
• [2] European Union (Referendum) Bill 2013-14 page on the Parliament website

The majority of MPs voted not to express regret that the Government had not included proposals for a referendum on the UK's membership of the EU in their legislative programme.

The proposed text which MPs decided not to include in their response to the Queen's speech was:

• "but respectfully regret that an EU referendum bill was not included in the Gracious Speech."

The majority of MPs voted in favour of holding a referendum on the UK's membership of the European Union before the end of 2017.

The referendum question included in the bill is:

• "Do you think that the United Kingdom should be a member of the European Union?"

The vote was on the second reading of the European Union (Referendum) Bill^[1]. The bill requires a referendum to take place and includes arrangements for it, a vote in favour of a second reading can be seen as support for the general principle of the bill (opportunities to amend the details follow). The motion MPs technically voted on was:

"That the Bill be now read a Second time"

• [1] Text of the European Union (Referendum) Bill as at the time of the vote
• [2] European Union (Referendum) Bill page on the Parliament website

The majority of MPs voted against a proposal to hold a referendum on the United Kingdom's membership of the European Union on the 23rd of October 2014.

The rejected amendment was proposed by Adam Afriyie MP and stated^[2]:

• "page 1, line 4, leave out ‘before 31 December 2017’ and insert ‘on 23 October 2014’

The European Union (Referendum) Bill^[1] remained unchanged and continued to require a referendum be held before 31 December 2017.

• [1] Text of European Union (Referendum) Bill as introduced
• [2] Official Report, House of Commons, 22 November 2013

The majority of MPs voted for a referendum on the United Kingdom's membership of the European Union to be held before 31 December 2017.

The motion supported by the majority of MPs taking part in the vote was:

• That the Bill be now read a Second time.

The subject of the motion was the European Union (Referendum) Bill^[1][2], the support of the majority of MPs at its second reading allowed it to continue on its path to becoming law.

• [1] Parliament's webpage on the European Union Referendum Bill 2014-15
• [2] Text of the European Union Referendum Bill 2014-15

The majority of MPs voted in favour of a referendum, to be held before the end of 2017, on whether the United Kingdom should remain a member of the European Union.

MPs were considering the European Union Referendum Bill^[1]

The motion being considered was:

• That the Bill be now read a Second time.

In this vote an amendment which would have replaced the text of the motion was rejected. The rejected text stated:

• That this House
• declines to give a Second Reading to the EU Referendum Bill because it fails to meet the gold standard set by the Scottish independence referendum in terms of inclusivity and democratic participation, in particular because the Bill does not give the right to vote to 16 and 17 year olds or most EU nationals living in the UK, the Bill does not include a double majority provision to ensure that no nation or jurisdiction of the UK can be taken out of the EU against its will, and the legislation does not include provision to ensure that the referendum vote cannot be held on the same day as the Scottish, Welsh or Northern Ireland elections.

Had the amended motion been passed the Bill would have made no further progress towards becoming law.

• [1] Parliament's webpage on the European Union Referendum Bill

The majority of MPs voted in favour of a referendum, to be held before the end of 2017, on whether the United Kingdom should remain a member of the European Union.

MPs were considering the European Union Referendum Bill^[1]

The motion supported by the majority of MPs in this vote was:

• That the Bill be now read a Second time.

The support for the motion means the Bill can continue on its path to becoming law.

• [1] Parliament's webpage on the European Union Referendum Bill

The majority of MPs voted for a referendum to be held on whether the United Kingdom should remain a member of the European Union.

MPs were considering the European Union Referendum Bill.^[1]

The Bill provided for a referendum to be held before 31 December 2017 and set the question for the referendum as being:

• “Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union?”

The motion supported by the majority of MPs in this vote was:

• That the Bill be now read the Third time.

The support of the majority of MPs meant this Bill could continue on the path towards becoming law.

• [1] Parliament's webpage on the European Union Referendum Bill

The majority of MPs voted to set the date of the referendum on the United Kingdom's membership of the European Union as the 23rd of June 2016, and to set other dates relevant to the regulation of the referendum.

The motion approved by the majority of MPs taking part in this vote was:

• That the draft European Union Referendum (Date of Referendum etc.) Regulations 2016, which were laid before this House on 22 February, be approved.

The regulations set the date of the referendum on if the United Kingdom should remain a member of the European Union as 23rd June 2016. (The European Union Referendum Act 2015 required the referendum be held before 31 December 2017).

The regulations also set^[1]:

• the start date of the "referendum period" as the 15th of April 2016. This is generally the date from which spending is regulated, with some exceptions. The regulations also set the dates for reporting periods, and dates for reporting donations, loans and similar to permitted participants.
• the date of the start of the referendum period, relevant for calculating the application deadline for to become a designated organisation to which public funding is available, as the 4th of March 2016. Under section 109 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 applications have to be made within 28 days of that date.^[2]

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• [1] Explanatory memorandum to the draft European Union Referendum (Date of Referendum etc.) Regulations 2016
• [2] Heading Assistance for designated organisations, Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000

*Pressure of other work means MPs or Lords are not always available to vote – it does not always indicate they have abstained. Therefore, being absent on a less important vote makes a disproportionatly small difference.