# European Union (Referendum) Bill 2013–14

Part of a series of articles on :
Brexit :
Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union
Glossary of terms :
Background
European Communities Act
1975 EC membership referendum
UK rebate
Bruges speech
No. No. No.
Maastricht Rebels
Black Wednesday
European Union (Amendment) Act 2008
European Union Act 2011
UK opt-outs from EU legislation
Euroscepticism in the UK
UK opinion polling on EU membership
Campaigns for a referendum
People's Pledge
Labour for a Referendum
Bloomberg speech
In or Out
2013–14 EU (Referendum) Bill (unsuccessful)
2014 European Parliament election
2014 UK Parliament by-elections
Clacton
Heywood and Middleton
Rochester and Strood
2015 UK general election
2015–16 EU membership renegotiation :
2016 EU referendum
EU Referendum Act (Gibraltar)
EU Referendum (Date of Referendum etc.) Regulations
EU Referendum (Conduct) Regulations
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UK Government pro-EU leaflet
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Brexit: The Movie
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International reactions
Immediate aftermath
2016 Conservative Party election
2016 Labour Party election
2016 UKIP election
Department for Exiting the EU
Department for International Trade
Allegations of unlawful campaigning
Alleged Russian interference :
Notice of withdrawal
Article 50 process
Miller case (Article 50)
EU (Notification of Withdrawal) Act 2017
Brexit plan
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2017 UK general election :
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Timeline: 2017, 2018, 2019
2019 European Parliament election
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Northern Ireland Protocol Bill
Windsor Framework :
Legislation
Withdrawal Act 2018 (Gibraltar)
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Cooper–Letwin Act
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Public Vote Bill (not passed)
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Scottish EU Continuity Bill (blocked)
Withdrawal Agreement Act (Gibraltar)
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EU (Future Relationship) Act
Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill :
Impact
Impact on the Irish border
Good Friday Agreement
Impact on the EU
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Retained EU law
2021 Jersey dispute :
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Right to Vote :
Timeline Bloomberg speech Jan 2013 Referendum Bill blockedJan 2014 European Parliament election May 2014 2015 general election May 2015 Renegotiation begins Jun 2015 Referendum Act passed Dec 2015 Renegotiation concluded Feb 2016 Referendum held Jun 2016 David Cameron resigns as PM Jul 2016 Theresa May becomes PM Jul 2016 Article 50 judgement Jan 2017 Brexit plan presentedFeb 2017 Notification Act passed Mar 2017 Article 50 invoked Mar 2017 Repeal Bill plan presentedMar 2017 2017 general election Jun 2017 Brexit negotiations begin Jun 2017 Withdrawal Act passedJun 2018 Chequers plan presented Jul 2018 Withdrawal agreement plan presented July 2018 Withdrawal agreement released Nov 2018 Scottish Continuity Bill blockedDec 2018 Meaningful votes Jan–Mar 2019 Brexit delayed until 12 April Mar 2019 Cooper–Letwin Act passed Apr 2019 Brexit delayed until 31 October Apr 2019 European Parliament election May 2019 Theresa May resigns as PM Jul 2019 Boris Johnson becomes PM Jul 2019 Prorogation and annulment Aug–Sep 2019 Benn Act passed Sep 2019 Withdrawal agreement revised Oct 2019 Brexit delayed until 31 January Oct 2019 2019 general election Dec 2019 Agreement Act passed Jan 2020 UK leaves the European Union Jan 2020 Implementation period begins Jan 2020 UK–EU trade deal agreed Dec 2020 Future Relationship Act passed Dec 2020 Scottish Continuity Act passed Dec 2020 Implementation period ends Dec 2020 New EU–UK relationship begins Jan 2021 UK–EU trade deal ratified Apr 2021 Windsor Framework released Feb 2023 Windsor framework adopted Mar 2023 :
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The European Union (Referendum) Bill 2013–14 was a private member's bill of the Parliament of the United Kingdom designed to make provision for a referendum on membership of the European Union to be held in 2017 following renegotiation of terms between the European Union and the United Kingdom government. The bill ceased to be considered by Parliament after January 2014 and did not become law. However, a subsequent bill with the same objective, the European Union Referendum Act 2015, was later introduced to the House of Commons by the newly elected Conservative government in May 2015 was passed and received royal assent on 17 December 2015.

## Origins

The issue of the United Kingdom withdrawal from the European Union had been ongoing for many years before the 2010 general election, arguably since the 1975 United Kingdom European Communities membership referendum. In 2013 David Cameron pledged to renegotiate the United Kingdom's terms of membership with the European Union. In May 2013, the Conservative Party published a draft EU referendum bill and outlined their plans for renegotiation and then an in-out vote if returned to office in 2015. The draft bill stated that the referendum must be held no later than 31 December 2017. The draft was taken forward as a private member's bill in the House of Commons by the Conservative member James Wharton who had come top of a ballot of backbench MPs, entitling him to introduce a bill during the 2013–14 parliamentary session. His bill attempted to enshrine the Conservative Party Position into law before the 2015 general election. A spokesman for prime minister and Leader of the Conservative Party, David Cameron, said he was "very pleased" and would ensure the bill was given "the full support of the Conservative Party".

## Details of the Bill

The Bill set out the foundations for the timetable and question (Section 1), the electorate (Section 2), and the cost (Section 5).

## Referendum question

Originally the bill gave the question to appear on ballot papers:
   Do you think that the United Kingdom should be a member of the European Union?
and in Welsh:
   Ydych chi'n credu y dylai'r Deyrnas Unedig fod yn aelod o'r Undeb Ewropeaidd?
permitting a simple YES/NO answer (to be marked with a single (X)).

## Revised question recommendations

In the autumn of 2013 the Electoral Commission published a report which studied and tested the wording of the proposed question contained within the bill and presented two possible revised options.

### Recommendation One

The first recommendation was an amended question which kept the yes/no response options:
   Do you think that the United Kingdom should remain a member of the European Union?
and in Welsh:
   A ddylai'r Deyrnas Unedig aros yn aelod o'r Undeb Ewropeaidd?
permitting a simple YES/NO answer (to be marked with a single (X)).
This option was presented as the original proposed question within the European Union Referendum Act 2015.

### Recommendation Two

The second recommendation was an amended question which changed the responses from the yes/no options:
   Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union?
with the responses to the question (to be marked with a single (X)):
   Remain a member of the European Union Leave the European Union
and in Welsh:
   A ddylai'r Deyrnas Unedig aros yn aelod o'r Undeb Ewropeaidd neu adael yr Undeb Ewropeaidd?
with the responses (to be marked with a single (X)):
   Aros yn aelod o'r Undeb Ewropeaidd
   Gadael yr Undeb Ewropeaidd
The Electoral Commission tested this option but were unable to fully able to explore its full viability in the time available however it would be this exact wording and responses that would later be used and appeared on ballot papers for the 2016 EU Referendum under the European Union Referendum Act 2015.

## Concerns regarding the possibility of a Hung Parliament

Regarding the ability of the bill to force the next parliament into holding a referendum, a parliamentary research paper noted that:
    "The Bill simply provides for a referendum on continued EU membership by the end of December 2017 and does not otherwise specify the timing, other than requiring the Secretary of State to bring forward orders by the end of 2016. These orders would need both Houses to agree to the detailed rules for the poll and the date. If no party obtained a majority at the next general election due in 2015, there might be some uncertainty about the passage of the orders in the next Parliament. Unless the orders are passed, it would not appear possible to hold the referendum, since the day and the conduct of the poll would not have received parliamentary assent."

## Progress through Parliament

The bill's first reading in the House of Commons was made on 19 June 2013. It received its second reading on 5 July 2013 by 304 votes to none after almost all Labour MPs and all Liberal Democrat MPs abstained. It then progressed through its Committee and Report Stages between July and November 2013 and finally cleared the Commons in November 2013.
In late 2013, Conservative MP Adam Afriyie tabled an amendment to the bill bring forward the date of the referendum to 2014 but his amendment was defeated in the House of Commons.
The bill was introduced to the House of Lords in December 2013 and had its Second Reading there on 10 January 2014. At the time it was suggested that the Bill would not 'make it through the Lords alive'. The last consideration of the bill was its examination by committee on 31 January 2014 and the debate ended at that committee stage. Peers voted by 180 to 130 not to allow more time for a debate in the Lords and no further days were scheduled. The rejection by the House of Lords effectively blocked the bill and killed off the proposed legislation.
After the bill failed to pass the House of Lords, James Wharton blamed Labour and Liberal Democrat obstructionism; however the Liberal Democrats argued that the Conservatives themselves had not assigned the bill enough time whilst Labour responded by stating that the bill was in the Conservative Party's interest rather than the national one. Wharton has since argued that his Private Member's Bill was designed to put the issue to rest.

## Criticism

The Bill received numerous opposition particularly from the House of Lords where the bill was blocked as well as from Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats.
Former EU commissioner Lord Mandelson criticised the bill at the time by describing it as government "grandstanding to the UKIP gathering" and also said "We need to concentrate on using all of our influence and energy in building up Britain's influence in Europe, not driving Britain out of Europe."
Liberal Democrats peer Baroness Falkner of Margravine told peers that the legislation was too "important to rush through" and although she trusted the public to make the right decision accused the government of picking the proposed 2017 date as "arbitrarily plucked out of the air".
Labour peer Baroness Quinn also criticised the bill by describing the proposed commitment as "alarming" and was "highly irregular in singling out a date".
The Bill was also described as "economically devastating", and "biased and vague".

## Outcome

In May 2015 the Conservative Party led by then Prime Minister David Cameron won a small but unexpected overall majority in the 2015 general election which contained a manifesto promise to hold a renegotiation of the UK's membership of the EU to be followed by a in-out referendum. It was fulfilled when a Referendum Bill was contained in the Queens speech three weeks after the election with both Labour and the Liberal Democrats dropping their previous opposition. The renegotiation was completed in February 2016 and the referendum was held on 23 June of the same year in which 51.9% of voters chose to Leave the European Union compared with 48.1% of voters who chose to Remain a member of the European Union.