PM: “A ‘no’ vote is a ‘no’ vote”
Tony Blair has said that he will not ask the British people to vote again if they reject the European Constitution in a referendum.
The prime minister was speaking at his monthly press conference where he was harried on the subject of the referendum and asked to explain his apparent U-turn on a public vote.
“A ‘no’ vote is a ‘no’ vote, but people have to realise what the consequences of that will be,” he told reporters. “It would certainly be serious. It would be a serious situation for the country and of course for the government and prime minister.”
Mr Blair acknowledged: “If the British people vote ‘no’, they vote ‘no’, you can’t keep bringing it back until they vote ‘Yes’.”
If the vote is lost he said that he “did not know what the way forward is,” adding: “You would have to sit down and talk about it.”
However, he added: “I don’t intend to lose.”
Mr Blair said that he had reversed his position on the subject as the debate on the matter had become “grossly distorted”.
The uproar over a possible referendum was threatening to cloud the real issues.
“I think it is time for the Eurosceptics to put their case [and] for the people who believe in Britain’s central place in Europe to put theirs,” he said.
Mr Blair described the expansion of the EU as a “tremendous opportunity” for Britain, but that this message was not reaching the public.
