DAVID Cameron has rejected a call from Stormont's leaders and their counterparts in Scotland and Wales to postpone his European Union referendum until later in the year.
First Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness joined Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and her Welsh counterpart Carwyn Jones in urging the British prime minister not to run the vote in June as it would mean the referendum campaign clashing with the May elections to Stormont, Holyrood, and the Senedd.
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".
"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," the letter said.
But the prime minister rejected the demand, though he did commit 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.
Mr Cameron insisted during prime minister's questions in Westminster yesterday that voters would be "perfectly capable" of coping with two separate ballots.
"There is no agreement, so no date has yet been fixed for the referendum," he said.
The Prime Minister added: "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."
