POLL CALL: East Renfrewshire MP and former Europe minister Jim Murphy said the time for an EU referendum is coming. Picture: Getty Images
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Kate Devlin UK Political Correspondent
East Renfrewshire MP Jim Murphy said the vote should be held only when the future of the crisis-hit eurozone becomes clear.
But his comments will increase speculation that Labour leader Ed Miliband is toying with backing calls for a public vote.
However, the idea was criticised by another senior Labour figure, former business secretary Lord Mandelson, who described it as "foolhardy".
Mr Murphy's remarks come just days after David Cameron gave his clearest hint yet he would back such a referendum.
There is increasing pressure from his own backbenches for the Prime Minister to back a vote on EU membership.
Some Conservative MPs are convinced they did not win the last General Election outright because votes drifted to the anti-Europe UKIP. They believe the only way to ensure that does not happen again is to offer the public a referendum
At the weekend, Mr Cameron suggested he would back such a vote – but after the next election.
He described a referendum as an opportunity for the UK to give "fresh consent" to the EU.
However, he said it was not in the interests of the UK to pull out.
Mr Murphy, Labour's Shadow Defence Secretary, said: "I think at some point there will have to be a referendum on the EU ... I don't think it's for today or for the next year, but I think it should happen."
He pointed to the fact that Eurozone countries are currently drawing up new fiscal and political arrangements.
"I think after that, the time for the referendum will be upon us," he said.
"I think we will do it when the time is right."
Some within Labour believe the vote would allow them to capitalise on Tory divisions on the issue.
They also argue that a referendum could end speculation on the issue.
In May, Jon Cruddas, Ed Miliband's new policy adviser, called for a referendum.
Former leader Lord Kinnock, has already denounced a public vote as "a gigantic distraction [which] would disable political and economic activity in the rest of the EU".
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