MR JOHN MAJOR was accused of caving in to his party's Eurosceptics last night, after promising backbenchers a free vote if and when the Commons comes to decide on British membership of a single currency.
The Prime Minister's move - which started the day as a possibility and ended as a firm promise - caught senior cabinet colleagues by surprise. Chancellor Kenneth Clarke, the cabinet's leading pro European, confirmed he had not been consulted about the latest development, which prompted Labour charges that Mr Major was making policy "on the hoof".
Mr Major elected to keep Europe centre stage in the campaign, after Wednesday's dramatic appeal to both party and country to back his "negotiate and decide" policy on the currency issue. And he tried to turn the issue on Labour, highlighting proposals for the forthcoming EU summit in Amsterdam and his opposition to proposals for the extension of qualified majority voting on asylum and immigration policy, a range of foreign policy matters and the development of the concept of European citizenship through the introduction of new legal rights.
But he paved the way for a fresh opposition assault when, at his early morning press conference, Mr Major replied to a question asking if he would offer backbenchers a free vote. "That would be a decision to be taken at the time," he replied. "Of course it is a possibility as far as back benchers are concerned."
Mr Major repeated that ministers would be bound by any cabinet decision. And his deputy, Mr Heseltine, later went on radio to dismiss media speculation as to why he and other ministers had not been consulted. Mr Heseltine explained that Mr Major had been answering a question rather than speaking from a prepared text. And he appeared to think the free vote remained just "a possibility".
However, Mr Major subsequently firmed up the position, saying it followed naturally from his commitment to a referendum. Speaking in Ellesmere Port, he said: "It would be rather odd, would it not, to say you are going to have a referendum of every adult in the country, but then say backbench MPs are going to be dragooned in a particular way. So clearly the same principle must apply to them.
The Tory Euro sceptic, Mr Iain Duncan Smith, welcomed the prime minister's comments in terms which could only fuel the Party's internal tensions. He said: I think it is a progressive move that acknowledges that the public and the Commons are against monetary union. Kenneth Clarke and others like him have got to realise that the public is against the single currency, and the reality is it would be bad for Britain. I welcome everything that moves us closer to the point where we can say `No' on Europe."
A fellow sceptic, Mr Bill Cash, said he agreed a free vote was essential, and went further: "I believe we should be in serious renegotiation of the EU treaty to ensure that the UK together with other member states properly sit down to discuss the single currency."
Labour's Mr Robin Cook hailed the "collapse" of the Tory election campaign: "In 25 years as a parliamentary candidate I have never known a party campaign collapse, in the way the Tories have today.
Earlier, Mr Blair cast the Conservatives as two parties: "I ask you this question. If you vote on May 1st, which Conservative Party are you getting? Are you getting the Conservative Party of Ken Clarke or the Conservative Party of John Redwood? Are you getting the party of Michael Heseltine or of Michael Portillo?"
Mr Redwood, the former leadership challenger, repeated he would never accept the scrapping of the pound.