EU vote is 'reality against myth'

Mr Blair used a new poll to show the EU "myths" people believed

The political debate over the new EU constitution will be a "battle between reality and myth", Tony Blair has said.

The prime minister told BBC One's Breakfast with Frost programme on Sunday that he would not be rushed into holding a referendum on the treaty.

He said opposition parties were pushing for a speedy public vote because they feared their myths would be exposed during a long debate.

Leaving the EU would be an "act of foolishness", he said.

Also speaking on the programme, UK Independence Party (UKIP) MEP Robert Kilroy-Silk said the new treaty did nothing for Britain.

Like everything that happens at the moment within European politics it falls short of making any difference at all Christopher Barton, Reading, UK Have Your Say: New EU deal

He likened Mr Blair to Neville Chamberlain, Britain's prime minister at the start of World War II.

"It's appeasement," he said, adding: "This is the beginning of the end of Britain as a nation state governing itself."

Tory deputy leader and shadow foreign secretary Michael Ancram said the constitution was "highly damaging" to the interests of the UK.

"It is a gateway to a country called Europe," he said.

Mr Ancram told Frost the government had missed the opportunity to bring Europe closer to its peoples and had instead created a more "centralised" Europe.

'False beliefs'

The party would campaign for a no vote, but if the constitution was passed it would renegotiate the treaty if it gained power, he said.

Referring to a poll in the Sunday Times Mr Blair said there were many misconceptions about the EU.

The YouGov poll of nearly 1,300 people showed voters would reject the constitution by 49% to 23%.

A majority had believed the UK would no longer be able to have its own asylum policy; that the EU could control British tax rates; and that Britain would have to change its laws on trade unions and strikes.

Mr Blair said all of those beliefs were entirely false.

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The poll also showed many wrongly believed the British passport would be replaced by a European one.

However, it said voters said they would back the constitution by 41% to 35% if concerns on these and other issues were met.

"That's what shows us what we've got to play for here - it's reality versus myth," said Mr Blair.

He said in areas where Britain had agreed to majority voting, such as agricultural policies, it was a "perfectly sensible" move for a union of 25 states.

Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy said the treaty was a "workable compromise".

He told BBC News 24 all pro-Europe groups should be going out and making the case for the EU principle and for the constitution.

"There's a big reservoir of Euroscepticism out there and we've got our work cut out to get the case cross," he said.