According to the Independent on Sunday UK PM David Cameron has definitely set his sights for an early referendum on continued EU membership

The reasons cited by IOS political correspondent James Cusick include

  • the Conservative government wants to hold the referendum sooner rather than later to secure the best possible deal when negotiating the terms of Britain's membership.
  • The recent turmoil in Greece and the concerted efforts to keep countries within the union is also described as "influential" in the decision.

  • A 2016 vote would also avoid Britain's demands becoming an issue in the French and German presidential elections in 2017.

Read the full article here which says that Cameron will announce the date at his party's conference in Oct . The IOS source insisted that the 2016 date, and the parliamentary bill to approve it, would not prove to be a barrier in the House of Lords.

Previously the official line has been only that it would be held before the end of 2017 but Cameron clearly now sees some greater leverage to bring some reforms/changes/reduction in red tape back to the UK voters.

The conjecture is not new however as I reported here in Jan and again in May after his overwhelming election success, with Eamonn also reporting this. There have also been calls for a 2016 referendum from the opposition Labour party and UK manufacturers

UK PM Cameron - set to declare "Bring it on! "