By Bagehot
THE tortured and tortuous question of Britain’s membership of the European Union took a new turn this afternoon, with a decision by the House of Commons Backbench Business Committee to hold a debate and vote on October 27th on whether to hold a national referendum on Britain’s ties to the EU. The committee (a newish body which has nothing to do with business and commerce, but which instead gives rank-and-file MPs the power to parcel out a certain amount of debating time without the say-so of the government or party leaders) was responding to a petition signed by more than 100,000 voters, calling for the public to be granted their first referendum on Europe since 1975.