Eu Constitution
Britain to hold vote in 2006
Reuters, London
Britain will have its promised referendum on the European Union's new constitution in early 2006, just weeks after the country ends its six-month presidency of the 25-nation bloc, a newspaper has reported.The Sunday Telegraph said the referendum on the constitution that attempts to streamline the EU's leaden decision-making processes would be held in mid-March 2006, two and a half months after Britain hands over the baton of the bloc's leadership. "We can't do it while we are holding the presidency. But we need to strike while the iron is hot," it quoted Foreign Secretary Jack Straw as telling colleagues. Prime Minister Tony Blair, who unexpectedly promised a referendum on the constitution after it was finally approved earlier this year, goes to Italy on Friday to sign the final document. An ICM poll last month found 59 percent of Britons against the constitution. Blair's office declined on Saturday to confirm the 2006 date. "No date has yet been fixed for the referendum. First of all the constitutional treaty has to be signed and then it will be debated in parliament," a spokesman told Reuters. Blair, who has led his Labour Party to two consecutive and overwhelming electoral victories, is expected to win a third term in power in elections expected by mid 2005.
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