A debate is to be had in the House of Commons on whether a referendum should be called on Britain’s future relationship in Europe.

This is only happening because of the Lib Dem policy change which brought about the petition system. When 100,000 people sign a petition it must now be considered for debate in parliament. This is a good step in the right direction and keeps our MPs on their toes and makes the country a little more democratic.

As a Lib Dem, most people might assume that I would be scared stiff of such a debate. Far from it. It is about time this was debated. There are a whole raft of things wrong with the EU in its current form. There are also a whole raft of good things about it.

A proper debate on this issue is long overdue. I only hope that all the main parties allow their MPs a free vote on this! Or is that allowing democracy to go just a bit too far?