Hain rebuffs new EU vote call

Lord Saatchi is leading campaign for convention referendum

People calling for a referendum on the new European constitution might as well "put away their placards", as the government is not going to give in to their demands, Peter Hain said.

The Welsh Secretary who also speaks for the government on Europe, said those calling for a vote were feeding the public "baloney" and "lies" about the plans being drawn up by the Convention on the Future of Europe.

Mr Hain was speaking after opponents of British entry into the euro started a fund to campaign for a referendum on the proposed constitution.

A committee of European Union members is preparing a treaty on the future of the EU.

There are fears it could include giving the EU sweeping new powers and several member states have already said they will hold a referendum, including Ireland, Sweden, Denmark and Spain.

The British campaign group, provisionally called Vote 2004, is supported by a number of Eurosceptics, according to the Sunday Telegraph.

A key figure, Lord Saatchi, told the paper the campaign was being created out of the No campaign against British entry into the single currency.

It spells out the existence of a single European country

Lord Saatchi

Q&A: European Convention

He said it would have separate funding and management and that the timing for the new campaign was "very good".

"On 9 June Gordon Brown will indicate that there will be no referendum on the single currency in this Parliament, showing that the No campaign directed at the prime minister will have succeeded," the Telegraph reports.

"The point about the No campaign was that it was directed at an audience of one - the prime minister. This campaign will be the same in reverse: it will be directed at the prime minister but will be calling for a referendum."

But Mr Hain said he was confident that British interests would be protected by the constitution once it was finally hammered out.

New treaty

The European Convention, which is chaired by former French president Valery Giscard d'Estaing, is due to present its findings next month.

These will be presented in the form of a new treaty for the approval of member states.

It is at this point the campaign would like the treaty to be put before the British people.

Mr Hain said: "We are not willing to give up our veto on foreign and security policy, because that is a vital national interest, nor on tax.

"That will not happen. We will not agree to a new treaty either in this convention or in the subsequent inter-governmental conference, that proposed doing any of these things."

Mr Hain added: "Those starting a campaign for a referendum might as well put away their placards and stop wasting their money, because we are not going to do it."

'Parliament's call'

Lord Saatchi said the treaty "spells out the existence of a single European country".

Tony Blair is meeting Mr Giscard d'Estaing at 10 Downing Street on Monday, but the prime minister's spokesman would not confirm what was on the agenda.

However, the Observer reported that he would tell Mr Giscard d'Estaing that although he wants Britain to be fully engaged with the EU, he will not allow its sovereignty to be put at risk.

On Saturday, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott dismissed calls for the issue to be put to a popular vote, insisting that Parliament should decide whether it is adopted in Britain.

Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith is among those who have backed calls for a referendum.