The British government has ruled out holding the vote on the same day as national and local elections on May 5th.

The government insists that they are listening to the concerns of MPs, believing that it is in the best interest to appease them. A Number 10 source said that they “have listened to the views expressed by MPs across the house and decided that we won't hold the referendum on 5 May 2016."

There has been intense speculation recently that the Tory government want to bring the referendum date forward, to maximise the effect of their honeymoon period after winning their first majority since 1992. The Tory government have to be careful as they have their infamous Eurosceptic backbenchers breathing down their neck, watching their every move carefully waiting to pounce if they are displeased.

Labour will be actively campaigning to stay within the EU. Since the election, the party has struck a markedly different tone, with many top figures now saying they support a referendum but passionately want to remain a part of the union. Party sources also believe that Labour should create a clear and separate campaign from any other party, something they didn’t do to great political cost during the Scottish independence referendum.

Tory MP Bernard Jenkin has welcomed the government’s decision to rule out holding the election on the same day as local and national elections.

"I think the government has been very badly advised on the date and on this. If they had accepted the Electoral Commission's advice on purdah we would not be in this mess. The Electoral Commission thinks the purdah period should be longer than 28 days…the government thinks they should be able to use their civil servants and their press officers and their special advisers to support their activities,” he said.

The UK will be engulfed with referendum fever in the run up to the vote. Arch Eurosceptics like Nigel Farage will fight it out with passionate Europhiles such as Alex Salmond.

LM/HA