Plans to hold a referendum in Britain on leaving the EU have taken a step forward today. MPs there are today expected to vote in favour of a pledge by the the UK Prime Minister to hold a referendum on EU membership, which is being debated in the Commons.

David Cameron rallied his party on Thursday night to "give the British people their say on Europe" by backing the private member's Bill tabled. If the Bill becomes law it would mean that an in/out vote on whether Britain stays in the EU could be held in 2017.

Backbencher James Wharton said it was an honour to bring forward the European Union (Referendum) Bill at second reading in the House of Commons.

The backbench MP for Stockton South said "In proposing this Bill I speak for many here, I speak for many millions outside because it was in 1975 of course that the Labour government gave the British people a say on our membership of the European community. How things have changed? Politics has moved on and the European Union has moved on".

"As I will explore in my comments today, it is important that we secure the best possible from the European Union and put a real choice to the British people and it is sensible that we set a timeframe in which that is done. That is what this Bill does and that is why I am bringing it forward".

"This is about giving the British public a real say, a real choice between a best possible deal we can get from the European Union and if the public choose to leave, if that is what they want to do" he added.

Opposition call it a political stunt

Mr. Cameron was on the front bench along with Chancellor George Osborne and other Cabinet ministers including Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers. More than 150 Tory MPs were in the Commons, along with more than 40 Labour MPs.

Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs have dismissed the legislation - which has a slim chance of becoming law - as a political stunt.

In May, 115 Tory MPs backed an amendment to the Queen's Speech criticising the failure to include a referendum bill after it was blocked from being part of the Government's legislative programme by the Lib Dems.

On Thursday night there was more harmony in the ranks as Mr Cameron hosted a barbecue for Conservative MPs in the garden of 10 Downing Street as part of efforts to nurture relations with a restive parliamentary party.

It came as Labour leader Ed Miliband came under renewed pressure to commit Labour to a public vote when one of his MPs broke ranks to call for a vote to be held even sooner than under Mr Cameron's plans.

Dudley North MP Ian Austin, a former aide to Gordon Brown, wrote in the Wolverhampton Express and Star newspaper: "The truth is that the UK needs to decide and I would prefer it to do so more quickly.

"I know this isn't Labour Party policy, but my view is that we should have a referendum next year on the same day as the European elections."

Several Tory MPs posted pictures of Mr. Cameron cooking on the barbecue and said the party was in "good spirits at the moment" - one, Dan Byles, also noting that his favourite beer was "on tap" at the event.