UK reaction: A British referendum is unlikely following Sunday's powerful French Non to the European constitution.
That appeared to be the message from Downing Street yesterday as prime minister Tony Blair sought to refocus the debate on the "profound question" arising about the future of Europe and the European economy.
However, amid widespread confusion and distrust about his government's intentions, Mr Blair is under Conservative pressure to pronounce the constitution "dead" or else guarantee that, if any part of the treaty is to survive, it will still be subject to a vote by the British people.
At the same time the prime minister's difficulty in winning any British referendum was starkly underlined when two leading pro-Europeans - Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy and possible Conservative leadership contender Kenneth Clarke - accepted that the French result had effectively killed-off the EU constitution.
And the Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond warned Mr Blair it would be a sign of "arrogance" to proceed with a referendum following the French vote.
"With Blair even less popular at home than Chirac has proved to be, he would suffer an even greater humiliation in the polls here if he allowed this matter to proceed any further," Mr Salmond declared: "He would be a lame duck prime minister - unable to convince the people at home and unable to lead Europe when the UK takes over the presidency of the EU in July." The prospects for that presidency were uppermost in Mr Blair's mind yesterday as he signalled it would be driven by the arguments for economic reform to meet the challenges of globalisation. Mr Blair said: "I think underneath all this there is a more profound question, which is about the future of Europe and, in particular, the future of the European economy and how we deal with the modern questions of globalisation and technological change. And how we ensure the European economy is strong and prosperous in face of those challenges."
Mr Blair kept all options open ahead of tomorrow's vote in the Netherlands and a crucial meeting of the European Council in mid-June.
Speaking to journalists during a short holiday in Tuscany, Mr Blair said "of course" he wanted to see the Dutch vote "Yes". And he reiterated: "If there is a constitutional treaty to vote upon we will have a vote in Britain before ratifying it."
Calling for a period of reflection, Mr Blair insisted it was too early to say whether a British referendum would go ahead.
Downing Street also appeared to contradict foreign secretary Jack Straw, who seemed to suggest he might announce a decision during a statement to MPs when they return to Westminster next Monday.
The view in Whitehall appeared to be that Mr Blair was observing form and saying nothing to pre-empt either the Dutch voters or the European Council, while knowing, as one insider put it, that "there would be a complete lack of clarity now as to what we were asking the British people to vote for". This assessment was based on the assumption that if the process of ratification was to continue it would presuppose a further French vote following a renegotiation of the constitution. "People would feel they were being conned in those circumstances," said the source.
However, doubts about Mr Blair's disposition were fuelled by the reaction of his friend and ally, now Britain's European Commissioner, Peter Mandelson, who raised the possibility of a further French referendum.
He told the BBC's Today programme: "No single member state has a veto over a constitutional treaty of this sort. France will have to consider at the end of the day its position, whether it's going to maintain a No or whether it is going to revisit the question and possibly come forward with a different view."
Mr Kennedy seemed to dismiss that possibility. "This is democracy," he said: "It was a referendum. It was more than an indicative poll and it was a decisive outcome, and the rest of us have got to sit up and take note of that fact."
However, Mr Kennedy - like Conservative spokesmen Dr Liam Fox and John Redwood, and Britain's No Campaign - insisted if Mr Blair and other EU leaders wanted to press ahead with elements of the constitution, there would still have to be a British referendum.