UK peers threaten EU referendum bill David Cameron faces resistance in the Lords to his plan for an EU referendum David Cameron's bid to neuter the threat of the UK Independence Party is at risk, with members of the House of Lords lining up to scupper his attempt to force a referendum on EU membership in 2017. The bill that would set up the plebiscite will be debated in the upper house on Friday and peers are preparing to make wholesale changes that could prevent if from being passed at all. The prime minister pledged to legislate for an in-out vote, under pressure from Ukip and his own eurosceptic backbenchers to prove he is serious about taking the question to the country. More than 70 peers are due to speak in Friday's debate, a sign of widespread concern in the upper chamber over the terms of the legislation. Although there will not be a vote during that debate, the number of peers hoping to contribute suggests there could be multiple amendments in the coming weeks, which could kill off the bill because of the short time allowed for its passage. One peer who is resisting the bill said: "It is by no means clear we will have gone through all the stages in time for it to get back to the Commons in time." Ukip advanced to just under 20 per cent in national polls in the first half of last year, as public concern grew about both EU membership and immigration. But Mr Cameron's pledge to legislate for a referendum appears to have helped staunch the flow of Tory voters to the insurgent party, which is now back down closer to 10 per cent. The bill is opposed by both the Labour and the Liberal Democrat parties, who say the 2017 date is arbitrary and the long build-up will harm investment in the UK. However, Labour politicians in particular do not want to vote against it, for fear of being painted as anti-democratic by the Tories. Instead, they are likely to propose multiple amendments in part aimed at keeping the debate going beyond February 28, the date by which it must return to the House of Commons to give it time to be passed. Amendments are likely to be based on the recommendations of the Lords constitutional committee, which found many flaws in the wording of the bill, including the question to be put to British voters. The Tories are alive to the possibility that the bill will run out of time and are preparing to blame the other two main parties if this happens, whether there is a vote or not. James Wharton, the Conservative backbencher who proposed the legislation, said on Thursday: "The British people . . . will not forgive Labour and the Liberal Democrats if they try and scupper this bill because they don't trust the British people." Number 10 knows that if the bill fails, David Cameron will come under heavy pressure from eurosceptic Conservative backbenchers to bring it forward instead as a government bill, even though the party's Liberal Democrat coalition partners have repeatedly ruled this option out. Mr Cameron has so far managed to keep his fractious party in line over Europe, having first bowed to demands to set a date for a referendum, and then to legislate for that date. That unity could be tested if that legislation fails. The party is taking the challenge to the bill so seriously that Lord Dobbs, the proposer of the bill in the upper house, is staying in the UK to do so, rather than flying to Los Angeles to see his drama House of Cards receive a nomination for the Golden Globe awards.