David Cameron has been urged by the leaders of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland not to hold his European Union referendum in June.
Nicola Sturgeon, Carwyn Jones and Arlene Foster warned that a vote in June would mean the referendum campaign clashing with the May elections to Holyrood, the Senedd and Stormont.
The first ministers said a June plebiscite “risks confusing issues at a moment when clarity is required” and called on Mr Cameron to “commit to deferring the EU referendum at least until later in the year”.
The Prime Minister rejected the demand, committing to a gap of at least six weeks after the May 5 elections before holding the referendum – leaving open the possibility of a vote on June 23 or 30.
The letter, also signed by Northern Ireland’s deputy first minister Martin McGuinness, said: “We believe that holding a referendum as early as June will mean that a significant part of the referendum campaign will necessarily run in parallel with those elections and risks confusing issues at a moment when clarity is required.
“Furthermore, it will be virtually impossible for the political parties in our respective territories to plan effectively for, and where appropriate work together on, the referendum campaign while our own elections are in progress.
Asked PM Cameron to respect request of Scottish, Welsh and NI govts and defer #EuRef. He dodged the question. #PMQ pic.twitter.com/wZa3TZUFPm
— Angus Robertson (@AngusRobertson) February 3, 2016
“We believe that the European referendum is of vital importance to the future of the whole United Kingdom and the debate leading up to it should, therefore, be free of other campaigning distraction.”
At Prime Minister’s Questions, Mr Cameron insisted that voters would be “perfectly capable” of coping with two separate ballots.
He was urged to rule out a June referendum by the SNP’s Westminster leader Angus Robertson.
Mr Cameron said: “There is no agreement, so no date has yet been fixed for the referendum.”
He said former first minister Alex Salmond had called for a six-week gap between the May contests and the referendum “and I can guarantee that won’t happen”.
The Prime Minister added: “I do respect the former first minister of Scotland who said six weeks was what was necessary.
“I also respect the electorates of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on the basis that I think people are perfectly capable of making up their minds in a local election or in a Scottish parliamentary election, or in a Welsh assembly election and then, a period of some weeks afterwards, making up their mind all over again on the vital question of the European Union.”
He told MPs: “This House has voted for a referendum. It would be pretty odd if, having voted for a referendum, we then spend ages debating about not having one.”