BRITAIN: The Conservatives last night sought to exploit apparent confusion within the Blair government in anticipation of a possible French 'no' to the European Constitution.
Shadow foreign secretary Dr Liam Fox said differing comments by Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and newly-appointed Europe Minister Douglas Alexander showed the government to be in "a complete shambles" over the question of a British referendum. "The only way for Tony Blair to clear up the mess is to name a date for the [ British] referendum now," Dr Fox declared, as party colleague Graham Brady insisted it should go ahead "even if the French vote 'no'." The opposition spokesmen went on the offensive after Mr Straw admitted for the first time there would be "a problem" if the French people rejected the constitution. Mr Straw insisted the UK government had a duty to continue preparations for a British vote. But when asked if there would be any point in a British referendum if the French did vote 'no', Mr Straw told BBC Radio 4's World at One programme: "If there is a 'no' vote by France or any other member state, the EU has a problem and it will have to be considered." He added: "There is a formal mechanism for that to be considered if a number of countries vote 'no'." Shortly before this, however, Mr Alexander had signalled to MPs that the British vote would go ahead regardless of the outcome of referendums in other countries. Speaking on the second day of the Commons debate on the Queen's Speech, Mr Alexander sought to reassure MPs, saying; "It is the government's policy to ratify the treaty that was signed by the prime minister in Rome." And Mr Alexander quoted Mr Blair's comment of 18th April, when he said: "I've always said we'll have a vote on the constitution. It doesn't matter what other countries do, we'll have a vote on the constitution." However during the recent election campaign Mr Blair also allowed that there would only be point to a British referendum if the constitution survived a French 'no'.
And Liberal Democrat spokesman Sir Menzies Campbell last night said a French veto would indeed make the treaty ineffective, arguing: "The British public would think it a particular form of political madness to ask them to vote in a referendum whose result would be meaningless in such circumstances." However as Britain's 'no' campaign was launched with an opinion poll suggesting 54 per cent of voters opposed to the constitution against 30 per cent backing it, Mr Brady for the Conservatives insisted the British referendum should be held in any event as part of a wider debate about Europe. "Even if the French vote 'no' there is a big debate to be had," he said: "There is a huge question over the direction the European Union needs to take." Meanwhile Mr Blair's former foreign policy adviser, Sir Stephen Wall, warned it would be "a false dawn" for British ministers to think a French 'no' would let them "off the hook." Sir Stephen supported the view that a French 'no' would finish the constitution, but warned: "The issues raised by a French 'no' would be very serious ones and ones the European Union would have to address, and it would be something of a crisis." On the other hand, Mr Blair's former economics adviser, Derek Scott, spokesman for the The No Campaign, insisted it was not a question of Britain being in or out of Europe. "I think both these arguments are wrong," he said: "We are focusing on the content of the constitution, which gives too much power to Brussels."