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  This rebellion is Cameron's Maastricht. He should have seen it coming
  
  Every Tory leader should expect a revolt over Europe. But this time the rebels' anger goes much deeper
  
  
  John Major shakes hands with Francois Mitterrand at the beginning of a European Community summit plagued by
  
  quarrels over the Maastricht treaty.
  
  The latest Tory rebellion over Europe is like an iceberg, which is why David Cameron has had to change course in
  
  the face of it and promise to bring forward an EU referendum bill. What the prime minister can see - 70
  
  backbenchers threatening to vote against the Queen's speech - is only a fraction of the obstacle. Hidden beneath
  
  thesurface are more substantial opponents and wider causes of resentment.
  
  Quite why this has turned into a potential shipwreck for the prime minister - hitting him as he was in Washington
  
  trying to look statesmanlike - is an intriguing question. After all, if you don't have a plan for dealing with Europe
  
  rebellions you really should not be in Cameron's position. The leader of the Conservatives has to be able to handle
  
  an eruption of Euroscepticism as surely as the All England Club has to decide whether to close the Wimbledon
  
  centre court roof during a shower. It's no good saying, "Who would have thought it, eh, rain in summer?"
  
  You simply cannot stop the Tories banging on about Europe, and certainly not by promising a referendum at some
  
  point, if a renegotiation of some kind does not deliver something or other.

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