Straw accused of backdoor EU reforms

The UK referendum on the European constitution ratification has been formally shelved but Foreign Secretary Jack Straw faced eurosceptic claims that he is introducing reforms 'by the back door' without putting them to a vote by the British people.

Mr Straw told parliament this morning that the government was putting enabling legislation to hold a vote on ice until after EU leaders discussed the way forward at a summit next week.

Mr Straw refused to declare the constitution dead, but Tony Blair is certain to face a row at the EU summit in Brussels on 16 June with Jacques Chirac, the French president, and Gerhard Schroder, the German Chancellor, for abandoning the ratification of the treaty.

Mr Straw hinted that Mr Blair will make the priority for the British presidency of the EU in July the economic reforms which were attacked by Mr Chirac as the 'Anglo Saxon way'.

He said the EU 'has to come to terms with the forces of globalisation'.

The British decision went against a plea by EU heavyweights France and Germany at the weekend for all other member states to continue the ratification process despite the French and Dutch "No" votes.

The decision means Blair, who takes the EU chair for six months from July, does not have to hold a referendum next year which opinion polls suggest he would have lost.

The latest poll on Monday for BBC television showed 64 per cent against the treaty, with 20 per cent in favour.

Prime Minister Tony Blair appeared to offer his support for the troubled EU constitution in an interview with the Financial Times newspaper, carried on its website (www.ft.com) today.

"I think the constitution is a perfectly sensible way forward," Blair said

"At some point Europe is going to have to adopt rules for the future of Europe and if it doesn't it is not going to function properly."

Mr Blair was also facing a campaign by eurosceptics at home led by former Number Ten policy adviser Derek Scott against implementing any parts of the constitution without a referendum.

Neil O'Brien of the No campaign said: "Jack Straw has today explicitly refused to give voters an assurance that the EU will not still implement parts of the Constitution without a referendum. Just days after the no votes they are clearly thinking about how to go ahead by the back door."

They claim the Government's hidden agenda is to implement the 'EU constitution lite'.

MPs suspect that ministers will seek to lead the EU out of the crisis during the six-months British presidency from 1 July by trying to slip through parts of the constitution without giving the British electorate a direct say.

Mr Straw denied he was seeking to introduce the constitution 'by the back door' but he made it clear that Britain will be willing to see some measures implemented without a referendum, such as greater checks by national parliaments over the European commission, which would not require treaty changes.

The Foreign Secretary kept open the option of reviving the referendum, but few believe that is a realistic option after the 'no' votes by the French and the Dutch.

MPs were left in no doubt that there will be no further progress on the Government bill to implement the referendum.

Mr Straw said until the consequences of France and the Netherlands being unable to ratify the treaty were clarified, "it would not in our judgement be sensible to set a date for the second reading".

He said the EU faced "a period of difficulty", adding: "The Constitutional Treaty is the property of the EU as a whole. It is now for European leaders to reach conclusions on how to deal with the situation."

"We reserve the right to bring back the bill providing for a UK referendum should circumstances change. We see no point in doing so at the moment."

Robin Cook, the former Foreign Secretary, said Mr Straw had carefully avoided saying it was dead so as not to be blamed by the French and Germans for being "the obstacle that caused it to crash".

Menzies Campbell, the Lib Dem foreign affairs spokesman, said: "I think Mr Straw had no option. It was a pretty skilful performance. The tightrope was pretty narrow."

He supported Mr Straw in saying that some parts of the constitution could still be implemented, including opening the council of ministers to the public, and opening up EU institutions to freedom of information requirements.

MPs on all sides lined up to declare the constitution dead.

Dennis Skinner, the eurosceptic Labour MP for Bolsover, suggested that Mr Straw should send a video of the Monty Python 'dead parrot' sketch to the EU leaders before the summit.

Ian Davidson, the Labour MP for Glasgow Pollock, said Mr Straw had 'made the best of a bad job - he is saying it is dead but he cannot say so in case he gets the blame'.

Frank Field, the former Labour minister, called on Mr Straw to publish a list of the items from the constitution the government was willing to implement without a referendum.

For the Tories, Liam Fox, the shadow foreign secretary, said: "I may no longer practice medicine but I can tell a corpse when I see one. This constitution is a case for the morgue. It is a dead constitution."

The abandonment of the referendum has also cast doubts over the survival of Britain in Europe, the group launched in 1999 with a fanfare by Mr Blair and a cross-party coalition of politicians when euro entry was in prospect.

The group will be deciding next month whether to wind up.

- INDEPENDENT and REUTERS