Teatime newslinks for Monday 24th October 2011

EU REFERENDUM VOTE

• MPsETC: Ahead of this evening's debate, Tory MPs rehearse the arguments for and against a referendum
• ToryDiary: David Cameron: A referendum now would be "rash" and "premature"
• LISTEN: George Eustice MP: There is a sense that the government "don't have any serious intentions of sorting the European Union out"
• Invictus: There is no prospect of holding the Conservative Party together without the serious prospect of EU renegotiation
• Number 10 claim they expect 85 rebels... Pete Hoskin has your scorecard for today's EU referendum vote
• James Forsyth: "It looks like about a third of Tory backbenchers will rebel in tonight’s vote on an EU referendum. 18 months into government, this is a massive rebellion and one that should make the Prime Minister think again about his style of party management. Those in Number 10 who claim that many of the rebels will ‘never be happy’ are missing the point that, while there may be a hardcore of MPs keen to rebel, many more are reluctant rebels who feel they have been pushed into it by Cameron’s failure to engage with the party on the whole issue of Europe."
• Labour rebellions? Guido blogs: "one Labour source suggests that up to thirty of Ed’s own side are preparing to call for a referendum. Other sources, closer to the leadership, spin that they are expecting less than fifteen…"
• Referendum vote tells us Tories are divided over David Cameron, not Europe - Benedict Brogan
• Why will Cameron impose a three-line-whip? "For Dave, this is about the one unforgivable sin: not so much disloyalty as the even graver crime of insubordination." - Damian Thompson

CAMERON IN THE COMMONS - LIBYA AND THE EU

• Clegg, Osborne, Hague, Gove and Pickles were all on the frontbench for the PM's statement. 
• Libya: "After 42 years of tyranny, the NTC declared the formal liberation of their country. This was Libya’s revolution, but Britain can be proud of the role we played throughout. The decision to intervene militarily is never an easy one. We were determined from the outset to campaign in the correct way, and learn the lessons of recent interventions. We took great care that targeting decisions took care to minimise the number of civilian causalities. The military mission is now coming to an end, and in the next few days Operation Unified protector will formally be concluded."
• The EU: "It is not the right time at this moment of economic crisis to launch in/out legislation. When your neighbour’s house is on fire, your first impulse should be to help them to put out the flames, not least to stop the flames reaching your house. ... We disagree about means, no about aims. The time for reforms is coming, let us not be distracted from seizing it." - PolHome (£)
• Cameron told the House: "I'm a liberal conservative." (Sometimes he's a pragmatic conservative, sometimes he's a common-sense conservative.) 
• Paul Waugh tweets: "Clegg looking unimpressed as Cam talks of need to talk to Coalition partners re 'opportunity' of future treaty change"

EU POLLWATCH

• Guardian/ICM poll shows 70% of voters want a vote on Britain's EU membership. 49% want out, 40% want in. Tory voters are split 56/32 to leave.

OTHER TORY & POLITICAL NEWS

• "Iain Duncan Smith told the House of Commons today that the previous Government's decision to scrap training schemes for 16-18 year olds was "one of the most short sighted decisions any government's ever made."" - PolHome (£)
• Red Toryism is on its deathbed – so put the champagne on ice - Will Heaven
• Jill Pay, the Serjeant at Arms, will retire on the first of the next month.
• The Ministry of Justice has released statistics concerning offenders convicted in the riots this summer. They are available here (pdf). 
• Independent Labour MP Denis MacShane tweets: "Some Tory MP wearing a poppy. It's not even November".