PM Faces Grassroots Backlash On Europe Vote

David Cameron is facing a growing revolt from grassroots Tories who are angry over his order to MPs to ignore their views on Europe ahead of the approaching referendum.

The Prime Minister told the Commons on Wednesday: "Don't take a view because of what your constituency association might say, or you're worried about a boundary review, or you think it might be advantageous this way or that way."

Mr Cameron has been accused of showing "disrespect" to party activists by representatives from 43 local Conservative associations across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

In the letter to The Sunday Telegraph, the Conservative associations warned: "No prime minister has a divine right to rule."

A Downing Street spokesman told the paper: "The PM has the greatest of respect for Conservative associations across the country.

"He was simply making the point that everyone should ultimately vote with their conscience."

But in a boost to Mr Cameron, one of Margaret Thatcher's closest advisers suggested the former prime minister would have backed his proposed deal for a new relationship with Brussels.

Lord Powell of Bayswater, Mrs Thatcher's former private secretary and foreign affairs adviser, used a Sunday Times article to say that although the so-called Iron Lady might have "raged more mightily" at Brussels than Mr Cameron "she would have gone along with what is on offer, indeed negotiated something similar herself".

Meanwhile, speculation continued to surround the likely positions of Cabinet ministers when the referendum campaign finally gets under way.

Reports suggested that employment minister Priti Patel is likely to back a Brexit, while The Sunday Telegraph claimed Mr Cameron had personally appealed to Justice Secretary Michael Gove not to join the campaign for the UK to sever ties with Brussels.

A cross-party umbrella group bringing together the various campaigns backing an EU exit is also said to be on the cards.

UKIP MP Douglas Carswell told Sky News' Murnaghan programme he wanted to "wait and see" before taking a view on the group.

"There are differences of ideas and strategy and that's perfectly reasonable, but if you're asking if there's going to be a merger between Leave.EU and Vote Leave, no there's not."

The groups are both hoping to be designated the official leave campaign when the referendum is confirmed.

Mr Carswell said his Vote Leave group still wanted to work with other Brexit campaigns - including a third group, Grassroots Out.

But he said they intended to run an "upbeat, internationalist" campaign focussed on economic arguments, rather than concentrating on migration.