DAVID Cameron will “live to regret” any attempt to silence ministers who want to campaign for an EU exit, a Bradford MP has warned.

Shipley MP Philip Davies urged the Prime Minister to end the uncertainty over the freedom to be given to members of the Government, after a day of confusion.

In Germany, Mr Cameron was forced to deny stating that ministers will be forced to back him in the EU referendum or quit their jobs.

Over the weekend, he had said his colleagues would be required to take the same stance as him “if you want to be part of the Government”.

That sparked furious criticism from some Conservative MPs, who argued it would be wrong to tell ministers how to vote on the issue of EU membership.

But, under pressure yesterday, Mr Cameron said his comments had been “misinterpreted” and that he had been calling for backing during the negotiations, not the vote itself.

Mr Davies has vowed to push for a ‘No’ vote in the referendum – and called for the same freedom for all Tory MPs, whether they are ministers or not.

He said: “There are strong views on both sides of the debate and the Prime Minister should allow ministers to freely campaign on both sides of the debate, as Harold Wilson allowed in 1975.

“He will live to regret it if he doesn't.”

But Kris Hopkins, the Keighley MP and a Government whip, declined to step into the row, saying: “I have great confidence in the Prime Minister’s ability to negotiate a good deal and a new relationship for our country in Europe, which will gain the support of the British people in a referendum.

“I am very happy for him to get on with the job and I will get on with mine.”

Mr Cameron's plan is to renegotiate the UK's relationship with the EU ahead of an in/out referendum by the end of 2017.

His latest comments suggest he has not yet decided whether to suspend collective responsibility during the referendum campaign.

He told journalists: “I know that can be frustrating. I know you want to jump to the end of the process and have all the questions answered now about the end of that process.

“That is not going to be possible so we are going to have to take this stage by stage, step by step and you will get the answers.”

Mr Cameron also denied that the Tories' difficulties over Europe were an echo of the party's 1990s splits.

"I think the Conservative Party is delighted that we have got a renegotiation, reform and referendum agenda. There's complete unity about that, how the manifesto set that out."

He added there was "real unity" behind his plan, which was "right for the country".

"In the end that's what this is about: what is in Britain's national interest. I believe it's in our national interest to try and make changes in the European Union, changes in our membership and then giving the final decision to the British people.

"It will be for them to decide, not one group of politicians or another group of politicians, it will be for the British public to decide."