IT’S NOT often that an MP offers to resign, even before they have been made an MP.

As this paper reports today, Royston Smith, who will fight the Itchen seat again in 2015 on behalf of the Tories, says he will resign the whip if both he and his party win but a vote on the UK’s future in the EU is not held.

It is a clear sign of how important both the former Southampton City Council leader and his party regard the question of Britain’s place in Europe, and also what trust the public place in pre-election promises.

This is a clever move by Mr Smith, who is Tory leader on the city council. With pressure from UKIP on the rise, the announcement less than a year before the next General Election goes to the heart of the issue that might appear to separate both parties over EU membership. Both wish to give the public the final say, but UKIP claim the Tories cannot be trusted to fulfil their promises.

This paper welcomes the EU debate, but takes no sides at the juncture with regard to whether we should remain in or quit the European Union altogether.

We recognise that this issue remains the hottest potato on the political scene in Hampshire, judging by the Echo’s postbag.

The decision whether to hold a referendum and then at such a vote will decide the nation’s future and that of future generations.