WHATEVER contortions the Conservative Party has performed in the past 50 years, at least it has been magnificently consistent in one respect: it has never been straight with the public about Europe.

This shabby tradition continued yesterday when MPs voted on whether there should be a referendum to decide if Britain should stay in the EU. David Cameron ordered every Tory MP to vote against a referendum because, he says, it would be a ‘distraction’.

It is beyond me how he can describe as a ‘distraction’ an issue that is so huge that it affects the way we govern ourselves and the way we spend our own money. The truth is Mr Cameron is horrified by the prospect of a referendum because, as a committed pro-European, he fears the result might reveal the true depth of anti-EU feeling in the country.

Once more, we see the prejudices of the governing class over-riding feelings in the country.

Colin Henson, Ullswater, York.