LONDON, Oct. 19 (UPI) -- In a challenge to British Prime Minister David Cameron, Conservative lawmakers called Tuesday for a debate on the European Union.
The House of Commons is expected to vote Oct. 27 on whether to hold a referendum on British membership in the EU, The Independent reported. The vote would not be binding on the government but could put pressure on Cameron to promise a referendum at some point.
Senior party leaders said Conservative members of Parliament are under a lot of pressure because of the plan to cut the number of seats by 50 to 600.
"The mood of Tory grassroots members is overwhelmingly Eurosceptic," one told the newspaper. "They want a referendum on the EU. A candidate who opposed that in Parliament would be cutting his or her own throat. The boundary review will be a big factor in MPs' minds."
Conservative MP David Nuttall put forward a motion for a referendum "to provide for the holding of a national referendum on whether the UK should remain a member of the EU, leave the EU, or renegotiate its terms." He said it has been almost four decades since British voters got a chance to have their say on the question.
