Oui or non?

At what point does a fully-fledged constitution get so watered down that it resembles little more than mere tidying up exercise?

The EU Constitution was rejected in referendums by French and Dutch voters more than two years.

Graham Stringer

Tony Blair had promised a referendum in this country but the government now says there's no need for one because the old model Constitution is no longer on offer.

It's to be replaced by an altogether more modest document, ministers say, to amend the existing treaties of Rome and Maastricht - and the effect on British sovereignty will be minimal.

The Conservatives and plenty of others disagree and detect little difference between the new treaty and the old constitution and so they say the Government should hold the promised referendum.

Richard Corbett

And while some in the Labour Party disagree with them, others don't.

We spoke to Graham Stringer, a former minister under Tony Blair.

He debated the issue with the Deputy Leader of the Labour MEPs in the European Parliament, Richard Corbett - he speaks on behalf of the Socialist Group on the Parliament's Constitutional Committee.

The EU constitution is dead - what's before us now is a mere reform treaty of much less significance, according to Gordon Brown - so Mark D'Arcy asked Graham Stringer if the Prime Minister was wrong.