It appears I am not the only one who has doubts

The Huntsman has written a considered piece about the apparant lack of gumption over the referendum campaign. His phraseolgy however rises above my dull prose as he sums up,

"Since the political elite of this country is so confident that it knows better than the People, fervently believing that the EU is good for us, the prospect of having to carry out the wishes of the People bears too much of the whiff of bitter almonds about it to be in the least bit attractive to them: most, one suspects, would rather undergo a tonsillectomy without anæsthetic on YouTube first".

He follows it up with a question on The Difference magazine, which will be putting questions to Caroline Spelman, the Tory Chairman.

"Why has the Conservative party become lukewarm on the issue of the EU
Referendum?

This is open goal territory but lately the Conservatives have been conspicuous by their absence.

Is it because this is seen as a win-win situation for Mr. Cameron in that
a) if GB yields on the referendum, he will be seen to be weak and to have given in to the Tories

(b)if he refuses he will be seen as a dishonourable shyster, but

(c) the Conservatives do not really want a referendum because the result
might be such a large majority against the treaty as to raise the whole issue of the principle our membership of the EU all over again, a perceived nightmare the Tories prefer not to contemplate?"

Another question could be, why are the Tories not officially backing the Pro Referendum Rally campaign?