Anger at bid to side-step UK referendum

Ministers today vowed to block a bid by France and Germany to push through a new European Union constitution in the face of a British veto.

As President Jacques Chirac and Chancellor Gerhard Schroder met for talks in Paris, details emerged of a plan to short-cut Tony Blair's promised referendum on the constitution.

The two leaders were reported to be backing a new clause to the draft constitution which would drop the requirement for treaties to be approved unanimously.

Instead they could be approved if 20 of the 25 EU members were in favour. The measure would apply to future treaties. But German officials were said to want it to be made retrospective, so it could be used to force through the constitution.

The move reflects concern the British public will vote No in the referendum, preventing the rest of Europe from adopting the blueprint. But an angry Foreign Office spokesman dismissed the latest proposal as a "non-starter".