David Cameron to rush out law for EU vote

 David Cameron will propose laws tomorrow to guarantee that the public is assured an in-out referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union before the end of 2017.

Mr Cameron will spend much of this week in the US

 The Conservatives will take the highly unusual step of publishing “draft legislation” which would write into law the pledge made by the Prime Minister earlier this year.

The draft Bill will be published amid growing pressure from Tory MPs and ministers for a referendum to be guaranteed in law.

The development, which emerged in Washington tonight, came after Barack Obama effectively backed Mr Cameron’s attempts to renegotiate Britain’s relationship with the EU before ordering a referendum.

The president called for Mr Cameron to be given time to “fix” the EU, as he warned that Britain would lose influence if it ever left the single market.

The endorsement was hailed as a coup by Downing Street, 48 hours before a parliamentary vote called by Conservative MPs who are demanding that the referendum pledge is written into law.