Nothing New

It is being put about that whatever the EU comes up with this week in order to deal with the collapse of the eurozone could, should and possibly even would be put to a referendum in Britain.

But the Lisbon Treaty is self-amending. So there can never be a new treaty, the only matter on which David Cameron has ever promised a referendum. Although in that case, having signed it, he would have had to have campaigned for a Yes vote.

As it is, he will turn around and state, entirely accurately, that whatever these latest developments might have produced, it was not a new treaty, so it was not covered by any previous promise of a referendum.

Therefore, there would not be one. Just a three-line whip. Possibly upgraded to a confidence motion. But probably not, since there would be nowhere near enough potential rebels to cause Cameron to feel any need for such a tactic.