Newsnight

Alex Salmond tells the BBC's Newsnight that the House of Lords would be perfectly entitled to try and push for 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in the EU referendum. He suggests that David Cameron might "see sense" and give way on the issue as he would not want to give the impression that 16- and 17-year-olds in England were "less capable" than their counterparts in Scotland - who were able to vote in last year's referendum. The former Scottish first minister says the "age of majority" in Scotland is 16 but Evan Davis reminds Mr Salmond that under-18s are not allowed to buy cigarettes north of the border. 

Join us tomorrow for more live updates.

Tuesday round-up 

- The EU referendum bill  was overwhelmingly approved by MPs at second reading in the House of Commons. During a six-hour debate, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond says an "entire generation" has been denied a say on the UK's place in Europe. Labour backs the bill but the SNP says it is a "sop" to Tory MPs. 

- We've had Boris Johnson weighing in on the issue too. During his Ask Boris radio show, he said it would be "safer and more harmonious" if ministers were allowed free rein in the forthcoming referendum. 

- When he was asked about prospective candidates to take over as Mayor of London, the Conservative MP said he didn't want to "blight" anyone's chances by endorsing them. Whether or not that had an effect on Zac Goldsmith, who knows, but shortly afterwards he told the Evening Standard he intended to stand. There's one caveat though - he has to win the support of his constituents first. 

- Candidates for another post, that of Labour leader, have been busy today too, as they addressed GMB union members at their annual conference in Dublin. The five MPs were asked whether they supported the government's plan to lower the annual welfare cap - and if they knew the price of a loaf of bread. It also emerged that three candidates - Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall have the 35 nominations needed to get on the ballot but Mary Creagh and Jeremy Corbyn are still short of the total. 

- We learned today that MPs are to consider allowing some terminally ill people in England and Wales to end their lives in a new effort to pass assisted dying laws. This comes after Labour MP Rob Marris won a private members' bill ballot.

- And, proving that perhaps you can't have smoke without fire, people in Wales will be banned from using e-cigarettes in enclosed places under a new public health law . Join us tomorrow for more live updates.

Image source, PA

The senior Conservative MP, Graham Brady, has urged the prime minister to decide now to "treat EU membership as a matter of conscience for front and backbenchers".

Mr Brady, who chairs the influential 1922 Committee of backbench MPs, writes in the Daily Telegraph, external that it is "right" for members of the government to be bound by collective responsibility during the renegotiation of Britain's relationship with the European Union.

But he says once the reform package is agreed, "the referendum campaign will effectively begin".

"At that point, there are three reasons why I would urge the government to treat EU membership as a matter of conscience for front and backbenchers alike," he wrote.

"First, making it clear now that this freedom will be allowed at the end of the negotiations will act as a pressure release and set the tone for a mature and rational debate.

"Secondly, while this is an issue that is more important than party politics - which will divide any serious party - it is also right that we should have a view to the need for reconciliation after the referendum.

"It must be in the interests of the Conservative Party to treat the referendum campaign as a discrete issue, one that needn't divide us on the vast majority of the government's programme for government on which we are entirely united.

"Thirdly, on such a totemic issue, it is only if it is clear that ministers are free to speak their minds that the public will know that they are genuinely urging a course of action that they believe in - not advancing an argument because it is a condition of their continued ministerial office."

Despite ending up in the wrong lobby, Angus MacNeil has insisted that he did not vote against his own party and for the EU Referendum Bill. The Western Isles MP has admitted his mistake but said he then refused to vote - by exiting the lobby where MPs are counted. The BBC's Tim Reid says the MP is not listed on Hansard - the official record - as voting in either lobby although he did vote for the SNP's wrecking amendment beforehand. Mr MacNeil said: "I was in wrong lobby but refused to vote. Amazing the amount of MPs who have told me they have done the same."

You don't need a doctorate in mathematics to work out this was a Commons majority of rather a lot.

With 650 MPs in the House of Commons, persuading 84% of them to vote the same way is quite something.

In fact, such an achievement that the result was held up because of the length of the queue of those wanting to endorse the idea of an EU referendum.How did it happen?

Labour campaigned before the general election against the idea of a referendum, saying it would be destabilising.

But after what amounted, to them, to be a rather destabilising appointment with the electorate, they have changed their mind in defeat.

For some, this vote is something they have campaigned on for as long as they have been at Westminster: a say for the people on our place inside or outside the European Union.

For all of us, it is the start of a debate about how we see ourselves, our place in the world and a decision for us each to take, within the next two and a half years.

There seems to have been a case of mistaken identity when it comes to which SNP MP ended up in the wrong lobby this evening. It wasn't Angus Robertson but rather his colleague Angus MacNeil. The MP has apparently confessed his error to the Guido Fawkes website, external. He is quoted as saying:

This just in from the BBC's Tim Reid. He says Angus Robertson has denied voting the wrong way on the European Union Referendum Bill. Journalists quoting Labour whips had suggested Mr Robertson was "hiding in the toilets" after going into the wrong voting lobby. However, Mr Robertson said: "I voted for SNP amendment and against the 2nd reading of the Bill... as Hansard will show". Hansard is the official record of all debates in the Commons and the Lords. It includes lists showing which way MPs voted.

The BBC's Chris Mason sums up the vote by saying there was "one heck" of a parliamentary majority for the referendum. Interestingly, only 53 MPs voted against the bill at second reading compared with 59 who backed the SNP amendment a little earlier. One explanation for the small discrepancy comes from the Sunday Times journalist James Lyons. He suggests Angus Robertson, who leads the SNP at Westminster, entered the Yes lobby by mistake for the second reading vote and had to hide in the toilets while it was taking place. 

Channel 4

Former SNP leader Alex Salmond says the bill has only passed its first hurdle and, using a golfing analogy, says there is "many a slip between cup and lip". He suggests the government faces either "defeat or retreat" on two issues. Firstly the timing of the referendum, due to what he says is growing opposition to any attempt to stage it on 5 May 2016, the same day as the Scottish parliamentary elections. He also says ministers are under pressure over any attempt to suspend "purdah rules" which traditionally restrict government announcements and activity in the run-up to elections and other polls. Owen Paterson is also concerned about this, saying long-established rules should not be "ripped up" and the referendum must be a level-playing field. 

Channel 4

Reacting to the vote, former Cabinet minister Owen Paterson says this is a "great day" and a "real result" for the country. He tells Channel 4 News it is premature to speculate on who may lead the No campaign, saying the prime minister deserves time to conduct his renegotiations and praising him for the "canny hand" he is playing. 

MPs have also approved the programme motion for the bill, an instrument which facilitates the scheduling of legislation, without a formal vote. They have also nodded through what is known as a money resolution. This allows MPs to consider any increase in public spending which might result from measures included in the bill. 

Eventually we have a result. MPs back the EU Referendum Bill at second reading by 544 to 53 votes. That is an overwhelming result. The outcome is greeted by loud cheers from the Conservative benches. 

As we are waiting for the result, Conservative MP Bernard Jenkin jokes that there is a delay because there are so many MPs seeking to vote in favour of the bill. "The road to Damascus has never been so congested", he suggests in an echo of comments once made by Lady Thatcher. Of course, you could construe his remarks as a gentle dig at Labour.  

Deputy Speaker Eleanor Laing ticks off MPs for making too much noise. She then proceeds to call a second vote on a government motion on the bill. Again, we expect this to be approved comfortably. 

The SNP's attempt to wreck the EU referendum bill at an early stage has failed. Its amendment has been defeated by 338 votes to 59. 

Mr Lidington concludes his remarks and the deputy speaker Eleanor Laing calls the first vote. This vote will be on the SNP amendment - which calls for the bill to be denied a second reading. If it was passed, which will not happen, it would the mean the bill effectively being kiboshed.