The EU referendum will be debated on Monday after the Prime Minister gave government officials strict instructions to attend.
David Cameron moved the date forward three days so he and Foreign Secretary William Hague could attend and vote on whether to hold a referendum in 2013 on the issue of UK membership to the EU.
On Thursday the pair will be abroad in Australia for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
By making the debate mandatory through a three-line whip, Cameron is making the vote a show of strength.
The three big parties in Westminster have instructed their MPs to vote against a motion for a referendum in 2013.
The debated referendum will not just offer a choice of whether the UK should stay in or pull out of the EU, but also a third choice of staying in with major repatriation of powers back to Westminster.
The PM is pushing for greater eurozone fiscal integration, with deeper fiscal union between the seventeen eurozone countries.
But many backbenchers have criticised Cameron’s forcefulness on the issue.
Mayor of London Boris Johnson has already said this policy is “absolutely crazy” as it may weaken Britain’s position within the EU.
Euroskepticism is increasing amongst Labour and Conservative backbenchers as the eurozone debt crisis continues.
More than fifty Tory backbenchers are in support of a three-choice referendum that allows for repatriation of power back to Westminster and are willing to challenge Cameron’s policy.
During Wednesday’s prime ministers questions Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell urged the PM to “make history and give the British people the chance to vote on our future with the EU,” saying the British people were “crying out” for a referendum.
In response Cameron said: “Of course we, the Conservative Party, are committed to the return of powers from Brussels to Westminster.
“We are also committed as a government that if power passes from Westminster to Brussels, there would have to be a referendum. That promise is good for the whole of this Parliament and beyond.
“But I do not support holding a referendum come what may. That is not our policy and I will not be supporting that motion.”
The PM added: “The right answer is not to hold a referendum willy-nilly in this Parliament when we have so much to do to get Europe to sort its problems out.”
Last month a petition with over 100,000 signatures was handed into Downing Street calling for a referendum.
The vote on Monday is not binding, but if passed will put intense pressure on the PM to respect the wish of the Commons to seek public approval.
