Hague: Lords convention must be followed

The Lords must follow the government's manifesto commitment to hold a referendum on the Lisbon treaty, shadow foreign secretary William Hague has said.

Speaking after last night's vote in the Commons which defeated the opposition amendment calling for a referendum, Mr Hague said the Lords may face an unusual conundrum when it comes to the European Union (amendment) bill.

"It is convention that the House of Lords does not stand in the way of manifesto commitments," he said.

"We hope that in this case the Lords will hold the government to their manifesto commitment," Mr Hague added, referring to Labour's pledge to put the EU constitution, subsequently abandoned, to the public.

The Commons voted against a referendum by 311 votes to 248, a majority of 63, and Mr Hague believes the Lib Dems may have been responsible for the amendment's defeat.

Speaking on BBC2's Newsnight programme, he suggested more government backbenchers could have been encouraged to rebel had the 50 Lib Dems who followed their party line and abstained supported the amendment.

"There could have been a vote for a referendum - the Liberal Democrats have denied the country that tonight," he claimed.

The Tories are committed to continuing to fight for a public vote as the bill works its way through parliament. As in the Commons the Lib Dem position would be "pivotal", Mr Hague added.