Cameron defeated on EU referendum bill

The purdah tradition means that governments should refrain from publishing or announcing anything in the run-up to the vote that could influence election outcomes.

Cameron’s government has argued that relaxing “purdah” rules was needed to allow British officials to react to events concerning Europe without breaching regulations.

Eurosceptic Conservative MPs argued that relaxing the rules would help Cameron put the “Whitehall machinery” to work to campaign for remaining within the EU.

Earlier, the government conceded a rebel Tory amendment preventing a snap poll from being held.

Labour said the defeat was "humiliating" for the Conservative government.

Cameron's first parliamentary defeat since his re-election with a slim majority of 12 seats in May was a stark reminder of how deeply his Conservative Party is divided over Europe.

The defeat at the hands of 37 rebels within his own party will ring alarm bells for Cameron.

A poll over the weekend showed those in support of leaving the EU were slightly ahead of those wanting the UK to remain part of the block.

The main issue is connected to immigration, as voters tend to vote for leaving the 28-nation club the less secure they feel about it.

Cameron announced on Monday that Britain will take 20,000 Syrian asylum-seekers from refugee camps outside of Europe over 5 years.

No date has yet been set for the referendum but Cameron has promised to hold the vote by the end of 2017.