Vote may not happen

Jack Straw dropped a bombshell on the EU referendum today - saying it may never happen because Britain or another country could veto the entire constitution treaty.

Mr Straw's clearly scripted comments follow mounting confusion over the referendum and contradictory claims by No 10 and senior ministers over what a No vote would mean. It appeared to be a calculated attempt to calm a situation which some MPs felt had run out of control.

He revealed that Britain had still not won agreement on its crucial "red line" areas over taxation, foreign policy and defence, which means Tony Blair may himself threaten to use
the veto. Coming just two days after the Prime Minister's "let battle commence" statement to the Commons, Mr Straw's comments looked a desperate bid to take the heat out of a policy U-turn which was beginning to look like a fiasco.

He stepped in as the Cabinet finally met to discuss the proposed Treaty for the first time and amid searing rows over Mr Blair's admission that he may respond to a No vote by simply holding a second referendum.

Mr Straw used a BBC Radio 4 interview to plead for the public not to worry as the constitution and the referendum may never get that far.

Saying critics were " jumping the fences" he begged: "Can we just step back to where we are? First of all, there may not be a referendum at all - don't hold your breath - for this reason. We have not yet got agreement to what goes into the constitutional treaty.

"It is possible - but I'm not giving odds - that there could be agreement at the end of June but there are quite a lot of issues to be resolved."

Mr Straw went on to admit Britain could not sign the treaty in its current shape. "We have our red lines, some of these we got agreement on back in November and December from the Italian presidency, some are unresolved. Other countries have issues of great importance to them."

He said the row over voting rights between Spain and Poland, France and Germany last December, which caused negotiations to stall, had "obscured" other arguments which were still raging. Again hinting at the veto, he added: "The first priority for us and for other countries is to get this constitutional treaty into a shape where we can recommend it to the British Parliament and the British people."

The Prime Minister has repeatedly said he would veto any treaty which failed to recognise his red lines - a diplomatic term to describe the Government's bottom line in talks. These include losing sovereignty over taxation policy, foreign policy, defence and social security. Mr Straw said that if the constitution met Britain's red lines, Mr Blair would sign it.

The Government would only make up its mind how to handle a No vote in the referendum when it saw the size of the majority. He did not rule out a second poll later.

Earlier David Blunkett admitted the Cabinet had never discussed the referendum U-turn - and hinted he was a reluctant supporter.

The Home Secretary contradicted Downing Street spokesmen that the Cabinet had debated the move in advance. Blaming the Easter holidays he said: "It was difficult to get everybody together."

Mr Blair's spokesmen had attempted to give the impression the policy change was the result of a lengthy debate.